Post the Newstuff review of one of your maps

[valhallaist]

This is the review of the only map I've completed. It's not generous (for good reasons), but I've seen worse:

Condemned Base - Valhallaist

Reviewed by: magicsofa
Valhallaist has made his first release for us to review. As soon as I saw "first map" and the mostly negative comments on /idgames, I figured I was in store for surreal texturing, strange monster placement, and overall noobishness.

And, I was! However, this isn't what you might call a "fail." In fact, I found much of the map to be quite fun in that weird 1994 way. The action is mostly pretty intense despite the immense size of the rooms - partly because of the smart use (but not overuse) of chaingunners. Also there are some cool parts like a long hallway with arachnotrons patrolling at the end, which you cannot lure forward! There are many simple but effective gameplay elements that sometimes are missing from modern wads. Ammo and health were balanced quite nicely - I found this to be one of the best parts of the wad.

Now, even though there are good points to this level, there's still a whole slew of slop to sludge through. Mostly I hope that Valhallaist takes these points into account on his next mapping effort: As for players, I'm not sure if you want to venture into this. It's certainly '94 qualified, for any nostalgia seekers. However, it might be too annoying for people expecting detail and precisely constructed battles. Note: flats and textures are mixed, which is why I said this needs ZDoom, otherwise I think it does not use advanced features.

OKAY: On to the flaw fest:

Some of the rooms actually looked kind of cool, like in the second screenshot, but most of them are immense and totally bare. There was effort to make stuff that looks like a real place: I recognized bathrooms, sleeping quarters, storage rooms, some kind of power room, sewers, and instances of hell taking over. However, it was only in a very abstract way and looked awkward and blocky.

A lot of the moving parts of the level were annoying or dysfunctional. I think there is a door that has no action assigned to it, blocking off huge portions of the level. The lifts seemed to have only one side tagged, whereas other sides would not work. Also, there were some really annoying switch hunts where you were forced to run all the way down some ridiculous hallway just to open the door miles back. Of course, this is a common problem, but anyway it interrupted the flow significantly considering the huge scale.

Unmoving parts were also awkward. Such as: Invisible windows (i.e. impassable lines that you can climb up to), openings that are 48 units wide, and inescapable pits. Not only are 48 unit openings annoying for the player to fit through, they generally break the gameplay because monsters absolutely can't navigate them. In one spot there was a hole in the wall with imps and lost souls behind it - none of them could get out so they just ended up infighting. It would have worked much better if the opening were wider so they could pour out into the hallway. Finally, there is the obligatory slew of misaligned textures.

One part of the level really pissed me off, which was a giant blue maze. It would have been more navigable if it were smaller (it wasn't actually very easy to get lost in, just took a long time to run through). The real problem though, was the ridiculous amount of chaingunners all over the walls. Their ammo is usually not available, and there isn't enough health around to compensate for their endless barrage of bullets. This was the part where the previous ammo and health balance totally broke down.

My suggestion to Valhallaist: Try making some smaller levels, pay attention to the alignment of your textures and the placement of your switches. There was a really cool part where you hit a switch to raise a platform in the sewer, which you would end up getting to later. This is when having a switch do something remote is acceptable: When you can see what's going on, and also when you don't have to do a ton of backtracking to get there. Backtracking can be cool especially when more monsters are appearing but if it takes too long it can just be boring, and confusing. There are some other conventions that could be followed: Pits that have no escape are no fun, passages should be wide enough to accommodate monster movement, lifts should operate from all sides, the player shouldn't be running into invisible walls, etc. However, despite these errors this was a really good first map attempt which served up a little bit of the most important aspect of Doom mapping: Gameplay. I look forward to seeing the next effort by Valhallaist!

[Torn]

Aminesii.wad (Abandoned Mines II)

(by deathz0r 2002)
This is a first map job by Torn, and it is a very good one at that. Designed for the FreeDoom project, this map replaces map26, and it is a very faithful tribute to the original Abandoned Mines. However, the only problem I really have with it is the amount of monsters crammed into this otherwise decent map. It says in the text file that the FreeDoom textures are required, but you still can check it out without them.

[purist]

Since we're posting first releases so far... TheUltimateDoomer reviewed this in July 2004 (same chronicles as Action Doom):

=====================================================================
Helavator by Chris Bourke
9kb - doom2.exe - SP -
A simple map with 4 octagonal rooms and a passage round the outside. 50 basic monsters is all you get, but with an airtight ammo balance and no health.
=====================================================================

He must have played in UV as THING placement was radically different depending on the skill setting.

[Philnemba]

From Newstuff #361 from Jan 27th of 2010

Some evil Outpost - Philnemba
Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 24613 bytes
Reviewed by: StupidBunny
The author's first release, and with that in mind the map didn't disappoint. It's designed as a speedmap, although I didn't play it speedrunning and it was fun anyway. [Ed: of course, that's not what speedmapping means.] Everything about it is good and old-fashioned: the low detail, the monster count, the gameplay...it's even an Ultimate Doom map, as opposed to the usual Doom II or whatever. It's a pretty short map, and the battles provide a nice bit of fun without being a mind-numbing slaughterfest, so it's good for a quick little romp. (It also ends in a boss battle, like any good first map.)

On the negative side, it's old-fashioned in other ways too: some areas seem to be too barren of detail, and most of the doors aren't pegged right. Furthermore, the shortness of the map, though not really detracting from its quality, also means that it isn't very memorable, and doesn't have a whole lot of replay value.

Overall...a good, concise first map, nice if you don't mind primitive detailing and just want a few quick minutes of action.

[Reisal]

Chapel of Chaos - Mr. Chris & Jodwin
Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 332486 bytes
Reviewed by: Melon
I thought this level was excellent and you should definitely play it. One of the signs of a good level is that everything comes together so well. It's all too easy when reviewing a wad to end up nitpicking all of the minor faults and inconsistencies, so it's always nice to play a wad where there aren't any.

The architecture is great. Despite consisting almost entirely of green brick and wood, every room is noticeably different and recognisable, the theme is consistent without being repetitive. It's believable even though it's quite abstract; it's very easy in Doom to try and make something realistic, which almost always inevitably looks ridiculous.

Perhaps the most important part for me is that every encounter felt fair. I died a few times, but it always felt like it was my own fault. There were plenty of traps and ambushes to keep me on my toes and keep up the tension, yet none were unreasonable. By a sheer stroke of luck, Hurt Me Plenty ended up being pretty spot on for the sort of difficulty I can manage on a first attempt where I don't know what's coming up. The pacing is good if you don't get lost, with the right mixture of large and small fights spread out to keep things interesting.

Unfortunately there are a number of situations where you'll end up not knowing where to go next. The level tries to keep up some sense of non-linearity by giving you multiple paths at various points, but ultimately you have to do everything in a particular order anyway, so I'm not sure if this feeling of freedom was worth the time I spent wandering around looking for where to go next. For example, at the start you get to go left or right, and at the end of the right path is a switch that opens bars all the way at the end of the left path, so if you do the left path first like I did, you'll end up searching the entire level once you hit the switch in the right path because you might expect the switch to open up something nearby instead of at the opposite end of the level. If you do know where you're going, then the level actually flows really well, so I don't mean to put too much emphasis on the one major flaw in the level because it's not really that big a deal.

As long as you don't mind spending a bit of time searching in the level, I can't imagine how you'd have any complaints. It's one of the better single level wads I've played. Give it a go.

[esselfortium]

Space Deathmatch V (1.1 bugfix update) - Various [Jetsons] members
Reviewed by: Melon
Space Deathmatch 5 v1.1 contains 34 maps, and they tend to vary all over the place in quality, so I'm going to review them all very briefly. They might have been reviewed before, but I couldn't find it, so here we go again (probably). For a general overview of the entire wad, the maps tend to be rather gimmicky, and if you're looking for very serious competitive maps, you won't find them here.

SSDM01: A simple open map with minor height variations and no health that tends to resort to players either sticking around the plasma/BFG area (the only place with cover) or shotgun sniping a whole lot and generally being defensive. Not great. A midi of Prodigy music is cool, though.

SSDM02: An arena on top of skyscrapers with some small indoor areas and the odd stimpack. The bouncepads make it easy to fall to your death between the buildings unless you spend a while practicing (or maybe I'm just terrible). A bit too open with people flying all over the place.

SSDM03: See screenshot 1. A large lake that players swim in with some on land sections around the edge and on a boat. The fact that everyone is swimming makes for a very different and refreshing change that's a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this map.

SSDM04: A terrible small map with floors with holes in them, killer crushing ceilings, and small platforms with conveyor belts pushing you to your death that play an extremely annoying sound when you walk on them. Awful.

SSDM05: Players spawn on top of an icy slope and try to shoot each other as they go down it whilst jumping over killer death pits. At the bottom is a dull ice arena. What this map needs is for the map to be longer and to have all players respawn back to the top when someone reaches the bottom, as killing each other on the initial trip down is fun, but only really happens once.

SSDM06: Map SSDM01 remixed with more height variation, different weapons, a soulsphere, and an extra section high above with only one way to reach it that ruins the whole map. A shame, as the altered bottom section with the soulsphere moved to a more available spot is what SSDM01 should have been.

SSDM07: See screenshot 2. A map with an empty area around the side and all the weapons placed on small platforms in the middle that you have to jump around. Appallingly bad.

SSDM08: A very small map that's great for dueling. My favourite map of the bunch.

SSDM09: A really weird map. There's a floating water pit in the middle, a really difficult and frustrating section of small platforms below it, and a switch on the side that turns all of the deadly void into a less deadly infinite falling teleport type thing (instead of dying you appear at the top of the level). Certainly unique, but doesn't play well.

SSDM10: See screenshot 3. An arena on two levels, a somewhat open lower underground section and a very open above ground section. It's alright.

SSDM11: A small map with the world's most off-putting skybox. Play tended to centre around the west side, given that most of the health and the plasma gun are situated there. Didn't enjoy it all that much.

SSDM12: See screenshot 4. This is it folks, the deathmatch equivalent of WOW.WAD. In fact, if there was a cyberdemon in the pit then I would think it was WOW.WAD. This is without a doubt the worst deathmatch map I have ever seen. I was going to forgive Esselfortium because he even admits in the text file that it is atrocious, but I can't forgive such an abomination.

SSDM13: This would be a pretty decent map if it had a bit more cover.

SSDM14: A remix of the previous map that makes it worse.

SSDM15: A pretty good map that's great fun, and my second favourite map. The BFG is unnecessary though, and the placement of it just boggles my mind. Why?

SSDM16: See screenshot 5. A room where the players and items randomly move between the floor and ceiling. Fun for a quick blast but gets old fast. Complete chaos.

SSDM17: A nice map that once again suffers from having no health.

SSDM18: A small map with an interesting theme. Plays reasonably well.

SSCTF01: The best CTF map in this wad by a huge margin. Multiple routes through a building in the middle with decent sized areas and hallways. Great fun.

SSCTF02: See screenshot 6. A horrendous CTF map with seemingly random chunks of land over a massive open area. The sides aren't even equal, with the red team getting a megasphere nearer to their spawn. Horrible.

SSCTF03: The CTF equivalent of SSDM07. What it lacks in fun it makes up for in square platforms.

SSCTF04: A boring map with two main pathways from the flags in a big open space and crushers in a room in the middle. The floors even drop into pits sometimes when someone gets the flag, and the weapon selection is awful (super shotguns and chainguns only).

SSCTF05: See screenshot 7. The third worst map in this wad. This is nothing more than two platforms really far away with a single bounce pad on each to fling you over. Far far too easy to capture the flag and as boring as hell. Awful awful awful.

SSCTF06: A volcano themed version of SSCTF03. More small platforms in a huge open area, but this time with lava. It's not even space themed! Also, it's terrible.

SSCTF07: See screenshot 8. Oh for f*@$ sake! I'm not even going to grace this one with a review. What was the author thinking? It's only rated above SSDM12 because, well, SSDM12 is SSDM12.

SSCTF08: A snowy plain between two bases mostly involving railgun and shotgun action. Played better than I expected, and the second best CTF map in the wad.

SSCTF09: This map seemed OK at first, but the shortest route between the two flags has 4 medkits and two blue armours on it, meaning that the flag carriers just end up tanking and the map stalemates way too easily.

SSST01: Never got a chance to try this out, but it looks OK. The map has two main routes between the bases, a large open way and a small corridor way.

SSST02: An interesting Skulltag map where the two skulls are quite close on opposite ends of a thin corridor and the pillars are also close by (but on opposite ends to the skull). The end result is pretty chaotic because the paths are really small and doesn't play too well.

SSST03: A bigger version of the previous map. In fact it's pretty much identical, except looks nicer and everything is bigger. Plays better as a result too. Makes the previous map unnecessary.

SSST04: Never got a chance to try this out. It involves three "islands" that players launch themselves between.

SSCOOP01: An interesting lounge map with a funny disco and a simple and easy conveyor belt game. Great for the time when you're waiting for your friends to connect.

SSCOOP02: A really dark map where you run around with flashlights out. There's not really anything to say about it.

SSCOOP03: An awesome race map where conveyors push you around, and you try to stay on the track while shooting your mates. It's even great fun in single-player mode, and I would love a wad full of maps just like this. Fantastic stuff.

That's it. Finally.

---

[Bishop]

Styx - Nathan "Bishop" Chapman
ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 814604 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
Reviewed by: Do0minat0r
One episode for Doom I/Ultimate Doom, running on Episode 3. The maps are in the style of the original E3 (Inferno) and E4 (Thy Flesh Consumed), and as the name suggests, are based around the Styx river myth. Overall, I found the maps to be pretty good, especially considering they are the first maps by this author. The architecture isn't that detailed but generally looks good, and the gameplay is a good challenge, yet I rarely found it to be unfair. I found the maps very playable both as an episode and from pistol starts. My only notable complaints are that some of the maps have an annoying maze area full of Lost Souls that you probably have to chainsaw if you don't want to run out of ammo, and that I found the secret map (E3M9) to be a disappointment compared to most of the other levels. That being said, here are my brief thoughts on each map:

E3M1 is a small level, and fairly easy to beat. You shouldn't have any problems with this one.

E3M2 is harder, but I generally found it very balanced except for a slight shortage of ammo at the beginning (even if you chainsaw the Lost Souls in the small maze area). The map is a bit on the symmetrical side, however.

E3M3 is about the same difficulty as E3M2, but a bit longer and much less symmetrical. The large, dark Lost Soul maze wasn't my favorite, but the rest was good.

Aside from another (albeit smaller and brighter) Lost Soul maze in one area, E3M4 is an excellent level. The difficulty is roughly on par with earlier maps, while the length continues to slowly increase.

E3M5 is an excellent map. Despite being clearly inspired by E4M6 of Ultimate Doom, the map feels like a new level. The balance remains good here, and while it starts with another small Lost Soul maze, this one is outside and I didn't really mind it.

E3M6 is a long level, and also perhaps a slight ramp in difficulty is well, but certainly not unfair. The level revolves around a fortress with some cavernous areas surrounding it. I found it to be another very solid level, aside from yet another dark Lost Soul maze. The secret exit certainly takes some effort to find (but I won't spoil anything here).

E3M9 (secret) is just a small level. It is also somewhat easier than the normal maps, due to a bit more health and ammo. It's not a bad map, but I was a bit disappointed after all the effort I spent getting to it.

E3M7 is the map with the most monsters, and perhaps also the longest and hardest map in the episode, appropriate for the last normal level. This level revolves around the Styx canyon/river itself, and therefore a good portion of the map is cavernous and/or outside. Despite not being my favorite style, I found this map to be quite well done and throughly enjoyable, and quite a good challenge but not unfair.

E3M8 is the boss map, with a few rooms and a key leading up to it. The boss room has a bunch of other big monsters in it, but there is generally enough supplies and cover to beat all the other enemies and then attack the Spider Mastermind head on.

Overall, I found this episode to be quite good, especially for the author's first released maps, and certainly worth downloading and playing, especially for those who like levels with the E3/E4 theme. It looks good, plays good, and offers a good challenge overall. Definitely recommended for those who enjoy the E3/E4 style of maps.

Map by map... now that's a review!
Thanks doominator! appreciate it =)

[valhallaist]

Bishop said:

Styx - Nathan "Bishop" Chapman
ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 814604 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
Reviewed by: Do0minat0r

I played Styx last year. Thought it was pretty brilliant. Some nice hellish themes.

[DooMAD]

Vacuity - Lee Wallis
423 KB - OPENGL Legacy 1.41/doom2 - Single Player - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
This one's very interesting. Above all else, it's an excuse to bust out your old Legacy engine. I actually had to download the latest version as this wad requires Legacy 1.41 and like an idiot I've been sitting here with my measly 1.40.
That aside, I have mixed feelings on this project. First, Vacuity is quite atmospheric. It takes place in a tech base where you fight a bunch of marines, each armed with strange weaponry. The accompanying text file mentions nothing about a story, and after some thought about this I found I kind of like it that way. The author may have simply forgotten to write it, or maybe he decided to let the wad tell its own story. While there's no voice-acting or text, I think it does go a ways in telling a story simply by using the setting, sounds, and sprites.
Second, in my opinion, some of the resources are a little eyebrow-raising. For instance, I found it a little strange that some of the marines sound like monsters in hexen. Others, such as the metallic clank when your bullets pierce the marines' armour, just make it all the more fun. Especially with the chaingun.
As for the sprites, I found that a lot of them are hybrids of sprites from different games. I recognized Doom, Strife, and Wolfenstein sprites among others . . . bah, who am I kidding? I only recognized those three. If you look at these sprites individually in a wad editor they appear to be extremely sloppy, but they seem to work nicely in-game. The animation of it works well even if it was a half-assed cut and paste job.
My only really major complaint is the one extremely dark room. Getting pummeled by monsters when you can't see them is high on my list of annoying. You can try the "Might Makes Light" approach (had to sneak a doom comic reference in there somewhere) by randomly firing and hoping the muzzle flash lights the room enough for you to see around, but this hardly accomplishes anything more than wasting precious ammo. Eventually I got tired of dying and IDDQD'd, only to find that a dehacked trick causes that to kill me. I'll get back to you when I actually finish the wad.

[Xtroose]

My first release was reviewed in the /newstuff Chronicles #364.

8-bit Binary Addition - Xtroose
Limit Removing - Solo Play - 182365 bytes - (img)
Reviewed by: Melon
Finally! I can't count the number of times I've been playing Doom and suddenly needed the number 73 in 8-bit binary format and needed it RIGHT NOW!

This map will do addition for you in 8-bit binary format by using some rather clever voodoo doll trickery, and it's all in plain sight so you can watch them be pushed about while it adds the numbers up. It's as impractical and pointless as it sounds, but I don't mean that in a negative way.

Obviously this wad has no gameplay in it at all, but it's worth checking it out if you want to study how to add conditional logic to your switches. For sheer novelty value alone, I rate this wad 00000100 out of 00000101.

Fun Fact: There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary addition, and those who don't. It's true!

[kristus]

Doomad: Must have missed that map.

Here's my first release, in this case it's a re-release to the archives though. Because it turned out that I had never uploaded it there for the longest time. When it was made, there were no source ports and I didn't really test it to make sure it worked properly with ports, I just assumed that it would work since it had been made for Vanilla. Though I had ran it a few times with Legacy.

codename HYENA killermachine - Unholy Software
(wad) (txt) - Magic Needed to Run, (Ultimate) Doom
Okay, I'd review this if I could actually play the friggin thing. The text file says it can be played on all ports, but it's a bloody lie! ZDoom won't even load it for some reason (it says it loaded it in the console, but there is absolutely no evidence of it being loaded), Eternity crashes with some sort of pallet error, Legacy loads it, but it crashes when I tried to play the maps and when I tried it in prBoom it loaded it fine but it severely messed with my controls somehow so I couldn't move. So, in conclusion, this is a piece of crap that breaks every source port I have on my computer. Your results may vary.
Score: N/A

Someone later told that it was probably the cheats section in the dehacked that was causing the issues.

[Melon]

esselfortium said:

I was expecting this the second I saw the thread title.

[esselfortium]

Melon said:

I was expecting this the second I saw the thread title.

Happy to be of service.

[Ralphis]

Newstuff #77. April 7th, 2002
Reviewed by AndrewB

AndrewB Sucks It
by Ralphis

This is a small single map for Doom 2. Taking place in a bloody metal
room, you fight through a horde of Imps and a Cyberdemon. There is a new
title screen graphic replacement as well as some music replacements.

[GreyGhost]

Maps From Memory - Various
doom/doom2.exe - Solo Play - 213153 bytes -
Reviewed by: arrrgh
Maps From Memory was an idea that appeared on the forums which went like this: Recreate E1M1 from memory as closely as you could. The zip contains two WADS, one for Doom with the bulk of the maps, and one for Doom II which only contained two. Some of the maps were worryingly good while others felt completely different. Most of the errors are in the texturing, though. This isn't really anything more than a curiosity, though - if you're looking for a "serious" WAD, this isn't the place.

Contains my sole contribution to the archive as a mapper, and the less said about that the better.

[scalliano]

[ReX]

From the /newstuff Chronicles dated 10/01/2000, reviewed by AndrewB:

Paranoia by ReX - It seems like a pretty decent partial conversion so far. Plenty of new textures in this WAD. Many new sprites, including modified weapons. A whole bunch of new monsters, although they look rough, and sound even worse. The map design is almost decent. Many boring hallways and rooms, but it varies from level to level. Five levels to be exact; Map02-Map06. Requires ZDoom.

Response by Lüt: Dude... I thought those maps were pretty good. Except for maybe the last one or two got a little repetitive. Those were much better bases than Quake2 maps and I think probably some of the better base-themed maps I've seen, despite a few blatant misalignments.

This was my 8th release starting from mid-1999. However, as The /newstuff Chronicles became a full-fledged feature (i.e., review of all wads in a given week, rather than spotlights on wads) around mid-2000, and those 15 maps were released before that time-frame, they were not reviewed. Thankfully.

[darkreaver]

I only have one released map (I guess my second will be the map I made for Pcorf Doom 2: Unleashed), and it was released almost exactly 1 year ago. Ah, I can clearly recall the long nights making this one, trying to figure out stuff with Doombuider, soooo much trial and error :P

Brood of Hatred - Christian Lian
Limit Removing - Solo Play - 1013700 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
Reviewed by: MegaDoomer
One map for Doom II, which runs on Map22. The map is in the hellish style, with lots of new textures to boot. They all blend in well, and help create a slightly more original feel, unlike most stock hellish levels. It is also the author's first release, but don't worry, because it was extensively tested and critiqued right here on Doomworld before release. As thus, most of the typical first map bugs have been spotted and fixed. Unfortunately I do have to keep it at "most", because I spotted three things: a badly misaligned texture near a lift about midway through, a series of stimpacks in front of switches behind locked doors that rise too high to be picked up, and finally, the inability to get 100% kills much of the time due to a few monsters that get stuck and don't teleport when they should.

But on to the map itself, this is simply an awesome level, especially for a first release - playtested or not. To begin, it's quite long, and consistently took me a good half hour or so to beat. And while some long maps run the risk of getting old, this one stayed fresh right down to the last moment. Ammo and health might be just slightly abundant compared to spot-on balance, but the map has its challenge factor all the same - especially on the higher settings.

Not only is it interesting and with reasonable balance in difficulty, but it's also a lot of fun. You'll start out with simple shotgun and berserk action, but by the end you'll have all the weapons and be facing lots of big enemies - and nearly every fight is well done. There are a ton of revenants, in particular, but it didn't bother me. The map progresses well too; I don't ever remember being lost or with no idea on how to proceed. The architecture is also good, save the misaligned texture, and as mentioned, the new textures make it look slightly more original. One area towards the end - a massive outdoor area with a volcano of sorts on top of lava - looks quite haunting and atmospheric indeed.

There is new music, which I found to fit well. In the end, this is an excellent map, well worth playing. The only faults I could find are the issues I mentioned in the first paragraph, and they're minor, and would be easily fixable with a 1.1 release. Even if you aren't a big fan of long levels, I'd still recommend giving this a try, as this one kept me about as interested as any. Download it, play it, and let's hope the author has plans for more.

[NaturalTvventy]

[40oz]

Play When Bored - Jon Vail
doom2.exe - Solo Play - 27138 bytes - (img) (img)
Reviewed by: udderdude
A short map for Doom 2. This map has serious problems. First off is that the plasma gun is near impossible to get, since the trigger to make a lift drop and get at it is only triggerable once, and other monsters can trigger it. I had to look at the map with an editor just to figure out what the fuck was going on with it. This leaves the later part of the map nearly impossible to win, unless you feel like punching some arch-viles to death with a secret berzerk pack. There's also a rather large group of cacodemons and demons that are stuck together, and you can easily punch them to death with no problem. The rest of the map isn't that bad, but it doesn't really matter. It was made in 2 hours, and it shows. Seriously needed more playtesting.

^This is your mapper of the year's first /idgames release. Those screenshots hurt my feelings.

[valhallaist]

40oz said:

^This is your mapper of the year's first /idgames release. Those screenshots hurt my feelings.

ROFL!

[C30N9]

Redoom - C30N9
GZDoom - Solo Play - 153695 bytes
Reviewed by: Traysandor
Redoom is a simple 5-level wad that requires GZDoom to run. Looking into the wad, the only reason GZDoom is required is the 3D bridge provided in the second screenshot.

Redoom features a new difficulty, which makes the monsters fast, tougher to kill, and turns off sv_cheats. It's okay if you're into that sort of thing. Other than that, the texturing is very, very basic, and loosely based on the original Doom 2 levels. It feels like we've all done this before, and you'd probably be right.

Overall, Redoom feels like a 1994 wad shrink-wrapped with "New" ideas. Playing through this, I can only think of one thing to say: "Avoid".
--------------

I made this long time ago, it sucks i know...

[Phobus]

Couldn't find the review of my first released wad, Scourge... so I've got the second one instead! Which was not popular. Even when I improved and re-released it. Still, I rather like it, so that's the main thing for me! Here's the review:

deathz0r, in T/nC #273, wrote:

White Light - James "Phobus" Cresswell
ZDoom - SP - 228kb - (img)
I was hoping to not end this /newstuff on a negative note, but I found this map rather tedious and annoying to say the least. First, it took me ages to realise what the switch textures were, as I thought they were simply decoration at first. Not only that, but the new monster is probably invincible and has a really powerful ranged attack. I also did not like the lack of contrast variance, as it seemed way too bright. I do like the use of the skulls however.

I got a positive comment in an otherwise negative review! :O Woo!

This was the same /newstuff as HTI2 - the comments thread isn't as bad as the more recent ones for the flamewar that followed the slamming of a high profile ZDoom project, but there (sort of) was (a minor) one! Think the main subject of dissent that time round was actually about the file size of one of the WADs, and how dial-up users should be considered.

[fatal error]

This is the newstuff of what is probably my best map set so far. 40oz obviously isn't a fan, but I got the impression he didn't absolutely hate it.

TOT COMICS DOOM- Joe Anderson
Vanilla - Solo Play - 334385 bytes -
Reviewed by: 40oz
I was hesitant give this wad a try. I've seen screenshots of TOT COMICS related projects, and those particular screenshots left a bad taste in my mouth (and my eyes too, I think.) I was expecting to play something with lots of MS Paint textures and new weapons ripped from screenshots of Half life and whatnot. To my surprise, this particular wad does not deviate too far from standard Doom gameplay.

This wad includes some new textures, mostly MS Paint graphics with vibrant colors and gracefully pixelated text (including a few spelling errors), but all in all it's still a standard Doom wad. To his credit, there are very few Doom wads of this style that don't require ZDoom to be able to be played. I feel the author of TOT COMICS Doom has taken a lot of inspiration from games like Half-Life 1. Especially since the mapping is pretty much used to draw out realistic objects like cars and desktop computers instead of giving each map a crisp smooth look. The maps are designed in a hub-style in which it feels as though all 7 maps are connected in a single location, and are about as short as the intervals between the little "Loading..." text that appears in the midst of progression in Half-Life.

This is a meek little adventure that features pretty predictable monster encounters and lacks any real difficult battles. It's pretty linear and takes about 10 full minutes to complete all the maps. There's certainly nothing unbearable, as I once expected before playing. The maps don't really feature much that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, though it's somewhat easy to detect the kind of design the author intended to have. I have no regrets for playing this.

[Malinku]

Xmas Tech Base - Andrew "Malinku" Rehberger
doom2.exe - Solo Play - 32670 bytes - (img)
Reviewed by: MegaDoomer
One short map for Doom II. The architecture is rather nice, plus the level is a decent challenge without being frustrating. As the name suggests, the theme is a tech base, of course. I don't have much more to say than that, really, but it is a good effort, especially considering it's one of the author's first solo play levels, as far as I can tell. Definitely worth a quick playthrough.