A Second New Romero Map: E1M4B

I'd like to see him take a crack at an E2 or E3 map personally.

Great news, looking forward to knock off time, e1m4 was always one of my favorites!

Wow, what an awesome gift, and right before DOOM 4's release too. You really got to be watching real close here, or you might miss such awesome fun as the 3 days of public beta from early in April. ЗФБ!

Romero still knows how to kill Doomguys in E1, even 22 years after making the original Doom.

Fun romp with lots of stuff to kill, nice ambushes keeping you on edge, and a ton of secrets to find. 4.75/5 Stars (-1/4 Star for the inescapable slime pits)

Just beat it, and oh man, this is even better than his last one! I only died once from (out of curiosity) jumping into the nukage cracks, but I almost died plenty of other times, my health sat around 40% the whole time as I got ambushed after finding each soulsphere.

I found 5 clever secrets, but missed some apparently - I especially liked that the chainsaw secret was hidden in the soulsphere secret, awesome touch there. Not afraid to go nuts with the shotgunners, which is a good thing, they really kept me on edge. Using a numeric system instead of keys was also a cool twist. Finally, I really liked how the level was mostly outdoors and never had boring flat roofs, floors or rooms, and how the environment changed as you approached the exit.

Great stuff from Romero here, I feel he has proven he still knows great game design!

I love how small this map is for the amount of shit that goes down in it. Definitely an improvement over the last one, too. Crazy stuff going on with some great ambushes -- nothing insurmountable but definitely a threat. I also like how he kept filling in that one upper walkway even after you'd cleared it.

Does it have a title other than E1M4B?

Angry Saint said:

Does it have a title other than E1M4B?

Don't read the text included with the map, that'd be silly

Angry Saint said:

Does it have a title other than E1M4B?

Phobos Mission Control; just like E1M8B was Tech Gone Bad.

I love this new map.

Does anyone feel like the original maps are just classic? There's something about the original Doom I and Doom II maps that are incredibly, incredibly beautiful.

There are a few fan made maps that feel this way, but not many. Most fan made maps feel "more advanced" than the Doom maps, but it's hard to describe.

Maybe I'm biased and because the original maps are "official", my brain automatically places these maps into a separate category.

I think I found a glitch in the map. I'm aiming straight at a HOM that shows up in Zandronum. In Crispy, it shows up as a black column.

http://i.imgur.com/NA1KXtp.png

The new map is pretty good on its own merits. Really tough, and the map winds around in a lot of interesting and unexpected places. Didn't need to be called E1M4B though - the map is enough of a departure from the real E1M4 where I feel it makes more logical sense as its own thing.

Vorpal said:

Don't read the text included with the map, that'd be silly

I did read because I didn't download it (yet).

But I was very curious because I like this kind of names.

AlexMax said:

I think I found a glitch in the map. I'm aiming straight at a HOM that shows up in Zandronum. In Crispy, it shows up as a black column.

Is that the/a sound tunnel to a monster room?

AlexMax said:

I think I found a glitch in the map. I'm aiming straight at a HOM that shows up in Zandronum. In Crispy, it shows up as a black column.

http://i.imgur.com/NA1KXtp.png

The new map is pretty good on its own merits. Really tough, and the map winds around in a lot of interesting and unexpected places. Didn't need to be called E1M4B though - the map is enough of a departure from the real E1M4 where I feel it makes more logical sense as its own thing.

Maybe he's making a whole episode

It's pretty interesting that we've got two new Doom maps from Romero, rather than a new Doom map and a new Quake map. He's on record as valuing both the Doom community via DW and the Quake community (I think he namechecked quaddicted but I could be wrong). On the one hand, Doom mapping is easier and quicker. On the other, his new project is going to be nearer Quake in terms of mapping technology.

Finally I played it.

It is a kick-ass map, the design is compact and well-connected via windows and passages that open.

Gameplay is tough but I think e1m8b was more difficult.

What I didn't like was the number tags near switches/puzzle pieces. I just did not consider it and still had a good experience, but I consider their use a sing of weak game design. IMO in the old doom you had to guess more what happened around you.

Yeah!

Awesome. Managed to get everything but the blue armor. It was definitely a lot easier than E1M8b (I didn't really come close to dying this time) and a whole lot shorter—to the point where I was surprised when the end came—but it sure was a lot of fun. Love how everything opened up like that. Very cool.

I don't really understand the hype. It's an OK map, nothing more and nothing less. He did better in Doom and Doom 2.

Both E1M4 and E1M8 are maps started by Tom Hall.

The start area isn't very interesting, and I don't care much for the slime pits. Nice map otherwise. Fun gameplay.

Ooh, I didn't expect to see another map from Romero so soon. Gave it a quick go and it's pretty good. Not as hard as E1M8b but well, makes sense given it's supposed to come earlier.
If Romero's new project uses this sort of Doom-like mapping I'll sure be giving it a go.

I played this earlier in old Doomsday with other enhancement addons, and it was FUN! However, I kept forgetting original DOOM can't jump so I almost cheated. Classic Doom still rules. :D

A fun level despite being cramped and more linear. I prefer the original E1M4 layout but E1M4B is more difficult, which I like more about Romero's remake in his own way.

Marcaek said:

I'd like to see him take a crack at an E2 or E3 map personally.

Related:

https://twitter.com/ThatTomHall/status/726083692439834625

AlexMax said:

I think I found a glitch in the map. I'm aiming straight at a HOM that shows up in Zandronum. In Crispy, it shows up as a black column.

http://i.imgur.com/NA1KXtp.png

I found that HOM too. It is indeed a missing lower texture on a sound tunnel. Do we tell him on Twitter or somewhere else? The other missing textures in that map appear to the backs of monster closet doors, which is a bit sloppy, but not as noticeable as this one.

Good map. Interesting use of numbers to indicate the sequence so the player doesn't spend two hours lost like was common in old FPS games.

Neat little map. Here are my thoughts.

- Good use of monsters attacking you from above or below.
- Some areas were too cramped.
- Honest ambushes for the most part, although maybe a little overused. The great ambush near the end probably has to many shotgunners. I had the Soulsphere when I faced it, so I was alright. But it may be too unfair for players who did not pick up the Soulsphere beforehand.
- I like the look of the COMPWALL area and its use of lighting.
- The Imp appearing in your face just as you picked up the Rocket Launcher was a nice touch.
- I would drop the inescapable slime pits. The way they were made had me going into them to search for secrets.
- The architecture of the outskirts of the map looked very nice, like the overhanged walls and tiered slime steps.