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Bloodshedder

The /newstuff Chronicles #341

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  • RapidFire - Xaver
    Skulltag - Deathmatch - 396837 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: arrrgh
    RapidFire is a set of 5 maps for Skulltag, in Duel mode. These are very well-designed and as a result are very fast-paced and fun to play. It isn't cramped and there are open spaces to fight in, and the visual design of the levels is excellent, with good texturing and detail. Overall, it's an excellent set of maps and I recommend downloading.

    I do have a few minor gripes though: The author used Doom II tracks for the maps but they don't really fit them, although that's a matter of opinion. Also, I think there should have been a few Skulltag specific weapons included in the maps - only stock Doom II weapons were used. The BFG in the third map unbalanced things a bit, too. Still, it's definitely worth downloading.

  • Doom shareware v1.25 special version for Sybex - id Software / Sybex
    n/a - n/a - 2241621 bytes - (img)
    Reviewed by: myk
    In June 1994, Sybex (the publishers of The Lost Episodes of Doom) released The Official DOOM Survivor's Strategies & Secrets, by Jonathan Mendoza. The booklet includes a version of the shareware in two disks, and that version, 1.25, is what we have before us here, kindly uploaded by LogicDeLuxe after a discussion about older versions on our forums.

    As the version number indicates, this version of the DOOM shareware package is pretty similar to v1.2. It's simply a quick fix to ensure stability, prepared specifically for the hint book release.

    The first difference we note in regard to 1.2 is that the startup band on the initiation screen uses a red stripe with white letters like versions 1.3 to 1.8 instead of yellow over blue. This is also the first version to say "DOOM System Startup" over the stripe instead of the previous "DOOM Operating System". During play I spotted no notable differences from v1.2 at first sight, except for the fact that the shotgun guy now lights up when firing, as in later versions.

    The manual accompanying this version is the v1.2 read me, with an additional paragraph noting the version should be more stable, but that GUS card support has been disabled.

    The one-episode shareware IWAD that accompanies the executable has the same levels, graphics, demos and data lumps as v1.2, while the game sounds have been modified: their size is as in later and current versions, and the chat sound has been included for the first time.

    If you had playing Knee-Deep in the Dead in mind, you might want to make use this opportunity and enjoy the varying pitch sounds and other details of the early releases. And who knows, you may discover yet another small curiosity or difference in this particular version!

  • Grave Robber - Pun1sh3R
    Heretic + CTF Support - CTF - 156475 bytes
    Reviewed by: Patrick Pineda
    This is a rather simple map for Heretic. The map is designed for CTF, there are 2 bases separated by a river. There are some cool looking graves, and it looks like a lot of time was put into making the shadows fall correctly in this map. Overall there's not much else to say about this map. It's neither unique nor special. Give it a try, play it on Skulltag, then forget about it.

  • Ultimate Doom 2 - Justin Lloyd
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 2597001 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: udderdude
    This is a 32-level megawad for Doom 2. The maps are, in general, low quality in terms of detail and map layout. Every one feels like a 1994 map, released in 2008. Some maps are better than others though, seeing as the maps were made over a 12-year span.

    Half the maps felt like playing them from a pistol start was entirely ignored, and it's very easy to run out of ammo. The ammo placement is horrendous; you'll often find yourself dodging piles of ammo, only to run out later, and either have to backtrack across half the map to pick up the ammo you avoided, or end up screwed because some door closed behind you that you can't open and get back through. I also found numerous bugs and places where I would get trapped. Some areas have lifts that are textured like walls, and you'll have no clue to push them. Map layouts are frustrating and confusing, with way too much switch hunting going on. There are WAY too many pits of toxic slime, and almost all of them have no way for the player to escape from - once you fall in, you're done. It's clear to me that the author did not hand this to anyone for playtesting.

    Also, I love how the author says, "Jumping is considered CHEATING on these levels", in several places, including the readme and his website. Heaven forbid he use the nojump flag in a MAPINFO lump for ZDoom to read. Or jump-proof his maps. So you'd better not jump in these maps. It's cheating. Yup. No jumping.

    Overall this is a mediocre and frustrating mapset. The author would have been wise to pick out the best levels, refine them, and ditch the rest. And oh yeah, get someone else to actually playtest them. Clearly, this did not happen. Avoid.

  • Doomguy's pimp ventures 3.5: Moar Futa - Mandy
    Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 741857 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: udderdude
    Well, what can I say? It's another installment of everyone's favorite jokewad, Doomguy's pimp ventures. Apparently, this one has "Moar Futa", whatever the hell that means.

    The map takes place in a forest with sprite-based trees scattered around. You get a rocket launcher that fires dildo rockets, and they do no splash damage to you if you blow them up in your face, unlike DOOM's regular rockets.

    There are the usual cyberdemons that moan with gratification when you kill them. They also fire dildo rockets which do very little damage, so they are not nearly as dangerous. And the b-ball imps are back in droves.

    The one addition seems to be ... arch-viles. They are by far the most dangerous enemy in the map, as everything else does very little damage, while the arch-viles do their usual amount if they burn you. Later on in the map, you are pretty much sandwiched between an arch-vile in a corridor lined with sprite trees (that don't block LOS), and two more arch-viles out in the open with nowhere to hide behind. It's pretty much time to remind yourself you're playing a jokewad, and nobody gives a shit if you slap on god mode for the rest of the map. I sure as hell didn't.

    There really isn't any new humor or anything really interesting in this mess, so unless you are a hardcore (HURR) fan of Doomguy's pimp ventures, I'd say pass.

  • Breed - The Player
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 4505 bytes - (img)
    Reviewed by: Scet
    There are bad wads and then there is Breed. The wad consists of one large, poorly textured, two sector map that contains a cyberdemon, some revenants and probably a few hundred monster spawners. Your job is to get to the exit on the other side of the map before it becomes clogged with monsters. Only download this if you want to waste electricity.

  • Killem Dead - Claude Matherne
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 45192 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: udderdude
    This is a short map for Plutonia, on Map 15. It's got pretty much every cheap trick in the book. Arch-vile fights where you can easily run out of ammo if it resurrects the wrong monster (Hell Knight), chaingunner traps where you have no chance of getting away without losing some health, fake exits that open up a trap door and reveal more monsters (that you don't even have enough ammo to kill...)

    There's a secret area that makes the entire map easier, but requiring the player to find secrets to make the map playable is just a bad idea. And it's a very non-obvious secret, also. It seems the author thought everyone would find this secret, as the map is ridiculously hard without it, especially the aforementioned arch-vile fight.

    There's some bugs also, a crate which lowers when pressed can also raise up around you and trap you inside it, permanently. You can only noclip out or load up a saved game. Definitely needed more playtesting before release.

  • Aloha777 - Alamain
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 92076 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: TheeXile
    This map is an architecturally-simplistic mishmash of themes with the occasional eye-scorching lighting and some fairly standard gameplay. Ammo balance was good, but I found health and armor to be a bit on the surplus side later on in the form of multiple health spheres and blue armors. Some top tier monster peek-a-boo boss battles cap off the gameplay. Game time should last you about 25 minutes or so.

    Things to complain about : large portions of the map's blocky, uni-sector hallways devoid of monsters; some annoying booby-trapped BFGs that you couldn't get to without dying or cheating on account of entrapment and crushing ceilings (which I guess you could say were hinted to...); occasional annoying use of illusionary walls (one of my personal pet peeves); occasional strange teleporter use.

    Verdict: You probably won't be bored, but I doubt you'll be terribly impressed.

    P.S. Why does this have a .wps text file in the .zip? ED: This is a Microsoft Works word processor document. It can be opened with some versions of Microsoft Word or NeoOffice, too.

  • Technophobia Overdose - Morpheus
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 4277485 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: TheeXile
    This is the first really good map I've gotten to review for /newstuff! Here we have an ep1-ish ZDoom tech base that throws you right the fuck into the action from the get go. Game time should last around an hour, and I guarantee you won't get bored!

    Detailing is superb all throughout, with things like small glowing lights and other assorted curious hardware components catching my eye all the way through (I'm a sucker for simple, well-executed effects like that). Nothing more I can really say that the screenshots can't, though.

    Ammo balance and gameplay was tight but not oppressive up to about half-way through, but after the mid-way Spider Mastermind battle it starts to slack off a bit with ammo becoming abundant and the monster populations never advancing much past the lower and middle tiers. However, one good thing in particular to mention is how the author makes excellent use of the ZDoom bestiary monsters, which don't simply exist for the sake of existing this time around. I especially loved the use of those semi-transparent lurking fireball throwers in the dark areas, for instance.

    But I still think a lot of the bestiary monsters look silly in general, in spite of the effort here.

    The map has a few ZDoom puzzle and gameplay elements, but it's overall still distinctly standard Doom. Some jammin' metal music adds to the experience, though I think the map's duration was a bit too long for that choice of music to be heard the entire way, frankly. Something tells me this map could probably have benefited from being divided into two or more separate maps.

    Note to the map author: A small 3D bridge in one of the areas later in the map (forget where exactly) apparently glitched with my version of ZDoom (2.3.1). Nothing a clipping cheat couldn't solve, but I can see it obstructing progression without that.

    Neat easter egg secret, by the way.

  • Hell Revealed Map23 UV-Max fix - Alter
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 84177 bytes
    Reviewed by: The Green Herring
    It's a modification of Hell Revealed MAP23: Ascending to the Stars, which fixes a bug preventing three arachnotrons from warping into the map by changing their one-time-use teleporters into repeatable ones, allowing you to kill every monster on the level. Of particular note is that the text file for Hell Revealed expressly forbids modifying the WAD, making this WAD a blatant violation of the original authors' legal wishes. Oh yeah, and the nodes were rebuilt in the process, so every demo ever recorded on the original version will not play back correctly on this one. Give this WAD a pass, unless you just have to be able to kill everything on Hell Revealed MAP23.

  • Banished Lands - Aluqah
    Limit Removing - Solo Play - 154136 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: MasterOfPuppets
    Here we have a single map that takes place on some sort of metal platform hanging in the void of space. Brown metal textures pretty much have a monopoly, with only a few blotches of color throughout the map to break it up. It's not that this makes for a bad looking map, but some certainly will find it bland. The level of detail in the map geometry itself is good, but nothing that will make you stop and think "Oh wow!"

    You'll want to save a few times as you progress through the level, as it is fairly difficult. Ammo and health are limited, but the enemies certainly are not. My only real gripe about this map is that sometimes you'll hit a switch and not know what it did - but this isn't a huge labyrinth map so this doesn't cause too big of a problem.

    Also, the health pickups are all Hitler-faced soulspheres. I don't know what's up with that, but it doesn't really add any extra value to the level for me.

    Overall, a respectable offering to the Doom gods. Good for 15-30 minutes of fun.

  • Kari's Wad - Kari
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 458208 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Scet
    This is a set of 11 maps for vanilla Doom 2. Most of the maps are entertaining and of good quality for vanilla, my favorites being MAP03, 04, 07 and 11. The quality of the architecture and the difficulty tend to improve as you go on. The maps start off with a tech-base theme, with the monsters being mostly zombies and imps. Later maps using a mix of tech-base and hellish atmospheres, using the more demonic monsters.

    The maps are very challenging; most are impossible from pistol start. I found myself having to use the fist a few times. At the start of MAP05 I hit a switch, only to hear the mover sound, but didn't see anything move. Thinking it was a crusher, I moved out only to see the floor eventually rise. I couldn't re-activate the trigger and was forced to throw off my mortal coil, causing me to have to restart and face seven demons in close-quarters with the pistol.

    Still, these are rather small flaws, and good vanilla WADs seem scarce these days. A decent way to waste of an hour or two, although you might want to start at MAP03.

  • Mutiny Mod 2.0 - Woolie Wool
    ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 12010908 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: WildWeasel
    When it comes to weapon and gameplay mods, many mods strive to be more ambitious, changing literally everything that can be changed (aside from the maps). Mutiny, while obviously ambitious in its own right, takes a slightly more minimalistic approach, making as few changes as possible while still presenting a new way to play.

    Users of DeHackEd might remember an included sample patch that replaced most of the monsters with recolored Doom marines, presenting it as a "fake" Deathmatch game. Mutiny might seem mildly reminiscent of that patch, but really, it's much more than that.

    Mutiny presents you in pretty much the same situation as in basic Doom: you're alone, you have a pistol, and the whole world is against you. In this case, though, rather than demons and zombies, you're up against the coup d'etat of General Eduardo's personal army, and it's your job to put a stop to it. So, of course, all of your enemies are 100% human. They'll shout at you, shoot, dodge, throw grenades, punch you if you're too close. They are also far more aggressive than your basic Doom baddies, opting to shoot rather than move. On higher skill levels, this is taken to an extreme not seen since Wolfenstein 3D's mutants: enemies have such a hair-trigger that they'll probably cream you the instant you poke your head out.

    That's why Mutiny provides you with a formidable new arsenal. Doom's weapon archetypes are all here - you start with the basic pistol and fist (though slightly edited to be a little more fresh), you can acquire two types of shotguns (which feel slightly more effective), two rapid-fire weapons (a quick, weak, and inaccurate PDW and a slow, powerful assault rifle), energy weapons, and explosives. New to Mutiny are a grenade launcher (really the only weapon I have a problem with, as it's the same Shadow Warrior one we've seen time and time again), a railgun (not quite as powerful as most other railguns but has a slightly quicker fire rate, making it better for close encounters), and a Pyro Cannon, which satisfies my obligatory need to light things on fire. Doom purists and old-school fans will probably be pleased to learn that none of these weapons require reloading, compensation for recoil, or any of that pseudo-realistic stuff.

    If you grow bored of the predictable monster placements and want a little luck thrown into the mix - along with tons of new variants of enemy to duel with - Mutiny also includes a randomizer patch, which when loaded on top of the Mutiny20.wad, totally shuffles the enemies. Your basic pistol-toting soldier may randomly be swapped for a scientist, a quicker-moving Officer, or a harder-hitting PDW marine. This, plus the "Realistic" difficulty level, would result in an experience not unlike that of Tom Clancy's Raven Shield - never the same arrangement twice, and just as unforgivingly difficult.

  • Nostalgy: Trip down my memory lane - Jodwin
    doom2.exe - Solo Play - 68244 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: udderdude
    A short, difficult map for Doom 2. From the very start, this map corners you and doesn't let up. As you progress, you run into hordes of monsters and plenty of arch-viles. There's little room for error as most areas are very cramped. Definitely a challenging map. Unfortunately the architecture and map layout are a little boring, mostly just square rooms jam-packed with monsters. And the final boss (spiderdemon) is trivially easy to kill. Also, you'll want to take a specific route to get the SSG first, or things will get very painful. Play this one if you're looking for a challenge.

  • The Ultimate NMD - Fiend
    doom.exe - Solo Play - 925980 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: udderdude
    Three episodes for Doom. Despite the name being Ultimate NMD, there's only 3 episodes in this mapset. The maps are, as expected, low on detail. Unfortunately, they don't make up for it with much else. Most maps are very short. Layouts are uninspired and mostly flat. The biggest issue is there are a few maps in episode 1 and 2, and almost every map in episode 3, that are pretty much unplayable from a pistol start. I found myself running out of ammo time after time. If you can find a few secrets, you might be okay, but probably not. It seems the map's name is actually "Needs More Ammo". If you are going to try playing these maps from a pistol start, don't even bother with episode 3. Overall it's not a bad mapset, but there have been better classic Doom recreations before.

Like what you are seeing? Want to get in on the reviewing action? Visit the /newstuff review center and start writing reviews today! You need a Doomworld forums account to participate.

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ED: This is a Microsoft Works word processor document. It can be opened with some versions of Microsoft Word or NeoOffice, too.

Thanks for clarifying that. He had it as a .txt.wps, which seemed funky to me.

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Gaeole said:

PEOPLE JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE POWERFUL MESSAGE INSIDE BREED!

THE MESSAGE IS, THAT YOU SUCK SHIT LITTLE BOY! Now go read some mapping guides

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I really wish the screenshots for doom(2).exe maps weren't so high resolution.

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exp(x) said:

I really wish the screenshots for doom(2).exe maps weren't so high resolution.


That's you!

I'd like to be able to see what's there - not just a blurry mess of pixels.

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Hitherto said:

Udderdude's reviews are boring and short-spoken, as always. Avoid.

Yet they manage to be rather informative, which I'd guess is the main point.

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Hitherto said:

Udderdude's reviews are boring and short-spoken, as always. Avoid.

How about you should write a review? Last time you did one on IDGAMES, it was short-spoken and awful. NOW I SHOULD SAY THAT PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID YOUR REVIEWS AS THEY'RE NOT INFORMATIVE AND ONLY SAY THAT THE THING SUCKS BECAUSE it has bug somewhere and you won't tell how to fix it or where is it.

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alterworldruler said:

How about you should write a review? Last time you did one on IDGAMES, it was short-spoken and awful. NOW I SHOULD SAY THAT PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID YOUR REVIEWS AS THEY'RE NOT INFORMATIVE AND ONLY SAY THAT THE THING SUCKS BECAUSE it has bug somewhere and you won't tell how to fix it or where is it.

I wish I could avoid your posts...

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alterworldruler said:
How about you should write a review? Last time you did one on IDGAMES, it was short-spoken and awful.

I'm just a poor russian barb with great aplomb, but without corresponding to it speaking skills. I was played your wad fairly and dislike it exactly. Whats more?

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Csonicgo said:

NMD is awesome fuck da hataz


Yeah I loved the ultimate NMD..

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Gaeole said:

PEOPLE JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND THE POWERFUL MESSAGE INSIDE BREED!


Well I opened your crappy level in Doom Builder for my review, and I didn't see any damn message. Actually considering it took me longer to review than for you to make, I'm pretty the message was "f*ck you!".

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In mention to udderdude's review to The Ultimate NMD. I really enjoyed playing The Ultimate NMD, it was a great mapset. Maps are playable from a Pistol start.

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Csonicgo said:

NMD is awesome fuck da hataz

Krispavera said:

Yeah I loved the ultimate NMD..

pcorf said:

In mention to udderdude's review to The Ultimate NMD. I really enjoyed playing The Ultimate NMD, it was a great mapset. Maps are playable from a Pistol start.


I agree with all of you. Regarding pistol starts, the original Doom (which this is tribute too) wasn't designed to be played from pistol starts, so it makes no sense to mark this wad down for the maps not being playable from pistol starts, even if that is true anyway (since pcorf denied it being true). Also, in particular, about the maps being small and uninspired, they were inspired by the styles of the original Doom maps, many of which are also fairly short - so what legitimacy is there in that comment? - I can't find any, that's for sure! I think it is another case of someone signing up for a review and failing to competently complete their job, yet the review was accepted anyway (ZPack, KDiZD anybody?).

That said, it is still no reason to drop swear words at or make fun of people (see first quoted post). There's never an excuse to get impolite, at least when it is about something as minor as a Doom addon. You can voice your disagreement, as I and the other two quoted posts did, but you should still be polite in doing so.

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Ultimate Doom 2 with revenants and archviles? O_o I jumped.

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udderdude said:
The biggest issue is there are a few maps in episode 1 and 2, and almost every map in episode 3, that are pretty much unplayable from a pistol start. I found myself running out of ammo time after time.

I disagree with a lot of things in your review (as layouts are good and height variation is well used), although this part is factually wrong. Both episode one and two are pretty mild, though in a good way. The third one does indeed seem to have a particular shortage of ammo in some levels. I can tell Fiend wants to make the last episode tougher to be "hellish", but I think that can be attained while giving each level more balance.

Kak Home said:
That said, it is still no reason to drop swear words at or make fun of people (see first quoted post).

Fuck that too. It wasn't even a flame, just an expression. Learn to discern between actual hostility and such phrases, please. The only thing we need now is some guy who writes a concerned rant every time someone swears.

Regarding pistol starts, the original Doom (which this is tribute too) wasn't designed to be played from pistol starts, so it makes no sense to mark this wad down for the maps not being playable from pistol starts,

Not really. The original levels are indeed quite pistols-start friendly... and as far as I'm concerned level sets that aren't have a flaw. Maybe if they were meant for some other form of play than a classic DOOM-style they could have a reason to fail to be pistol-start playable. Some reason ingrained in the design, that is.

Hitherto said:
Udderdude's reviews are boring and short-spoken, as always. Avoid.

I remember that back when I did whole bunches of reviews, before this system was put up, I'd often lose interest while reviewing stuff. Sometimes the levels weren't even particularly bad, but I'd run out of batteries or something. Now I tend to review things when they motivate me (I mean, when I really feel I have something to say about a WAD), expecting other people to pick up the rest. Though maybe some guys pick up too much stuff, degrading their overall review quality. I guess it gets "the job done" faster, but a more relaxed, more insightful result is better.

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Wow, with the way people are reacting, you'd think I totally trashed UMD and called it crap on a stick. I would say it's just about average. Don't know what the huge attachment is to this mapset, but oh well, I can't read the Doomworld hype meter at every opportunity.

Re: all the personal insults, grow up, plz kthx.

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Graf Zahl said:

I'd like to be able to see what's there

A crisp, desolate void of high-resolution nothingness? No thank you; I'd rather use my imagination.

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What do you expect?

This is one of those rare 'classic style' projects that's apparently above criticism for some. ;)

And in that regard I think it's one of the better ones out there. It didn't aim high but it certainly delivered what it was set out to.

exp(x) said:

A crisp, desolate void of high-resolution nothingness? No thank you; I'd rather use my imagination.


So low res makes that 'desolate void of nothingness' look better? Ha. That's a good one...

Tell me, do you still watch movies on VHS? Because in my book the same logic applies there.

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myk said:

I disagree with a lot of things in your review (as layouts are good and height variation is well used), although this part is factually wrong. Both episode one and two are pretty mild, though in a good way. The third one does indeed seem to have a particular shortage of ammo in some levels. I can tell Fiend wants to make the last episode tougher to be "hellish", but I think that can be attained while giving each level more balance.

Well, I'd say it's actually pretty easy to run completely short of ammo in quite a few of levels in both E1 and E2. E2M3 and E2M4 are some pretty good examples. Of course, it really comes down to both luck (how many shots you happen to need for imps and demons) and the particular route you take. Still, the maps are playable from pistol start with a bit of tysoning or chainsawing here and there, and particularly, by avoiding some of the monsters to save ammo (especially barons).

Regardless, I agree with udderdude on that NMD, while not bad, is by no means as stellar as some people make it sound. There have been a lot of Doom 1 remakes before and while you could say NMD is above average in that bunch, it's still nothing we haven't seen before.

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Jodwin said:
Well, I'd say it's actually pretty easy to run completely short of ammo in quite a few of levels in both E1 and E2. E2M3 and E2M4 are some pretty good examples. Of course, it really comes down to both luck (how many shots you happen to need for imps and demons) and the particular route you take.

The main, and I'd say important, difference is that one those episodes ammo will be fine once you are familiar with them. If you're reckless or unfamiliar you can indeed run out of ammo, which isn't necessarily a flaw. In E3 I was forced to make monsters follow me a good deal to have then kill each other off enough for me to handle the rest. I replayed E1 and E2 (I had tried the individually released episodes) before E3, and while I died once or twice in E2, mostly by neglecting the plasma gum or at least chaingun while jumping into potentially dangerous places, and made it to the end of E1 but with relatively little ammo. E3 was considerably harsher, making me try some levels a few times.

There have been a lot of Doom 1 remakes before and while you could say NMD is above average in that bunch, it's still nothing we haven't seen before.

I agree "above average" is a good assessment here*, especially if E3 item placement is tweaked a bit, although WADs like this are more about getting things done nicely and balanced out right than about novelty.

* Which is not necessarily incompatible with stellar, as it could mean 4 stars.

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Graf Zahl said:

Tell me, do you still watch movies on VHS? Because in my book the same logic applies there.

I think you need a new book.

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Had no ammo problems in e3, though e3m6 was a bit tight, exited with only a couple of shells left. Obviously if someone insists on killing everything in an area before heading for the next one they're going to run out of ammo. Didn't need to tyson much more than the usual demon or two.

m4 was my favorite, though it has an odd hurtfloor in the corner of the wooden hallway at the blue key.

In m6 I'm not sure what was supposed to happen after the blue key door, but for me all the walkways kept their hurtfloor status making it impossible to get through without the secret rad suit.

In m9 I think there were too many cells for the cybers to be any challenge.

Same in m7, the last teleporter tends to block the cyber's rockets most of the time when standing on the stone steps.

Didn't like the spider fight at all.

E1 is still my fav.

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Belial said:
Obviously if someone insists on killing everything in an area before heading for the next one they're going to run out of ammo.

Yeah, I thought there were some nice touches in that sense, forcing you to move ahead.

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I'm just played off NMDU e1. Not perfect or brilliant, but quite interesting maps. Was quite challenging and enjoyable for me with -fastmonsters (from scratch, of course).

Udderdude said:
Layouts are uninspired and mostly flat.

No sense. Uninspired by that? Flat in comparision with that?

Udderdude said:
pretty much unplayable from a pistol start. I found myself running out of ammo time after time.

May be you get tired or bored or something similiar?

If you can find a few secrets, you might be okay, but probably not.

Btw, secrets (on e1 at least) are quite easy to find.

Myk said:

Sometimes the levels weren't even particularly bad, but I'd run out of batteries or something. Now I tend to review things when they motivate me (I mean, when I really feel I have something to say about a WAD), expecting other people to pick up the rest. Though maybe some guys pick up too much stuff, degrading their overall review quality. I guess it gets "the job done" faster, but a more relaxed, more insightful result is better.

I agree completely.

PS One bad word about NMD titlepic: it's ugly! :(

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Yeahm, I agree! The Ultimate NMD is one of the best Ultimate Doom levelsets I have ever played, definitely right up there with 2002: ADO, Fava Beans, and others as far as recreating that classic Ultimate Doom feel.

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