The /newstuff Chronicles #166

And now you're back
From Outer Sp...
Now that I think of it, that joke is far too dated to be used . . . ever. Sorry.
Anyway, it's me again; the sometimes funny but always laughing Hyena. That's right. I'm pulling a Linguica. Last reviews I did were back when the first Sonic Doom release was . . . released. And now, the last week of January brings us such epic wads as "Sands of Death" and "Ohgr's Doom". Yes, the long anticipation is over.

Cyb says: Whoops, I forgot to post this last night. But it's all Hyena's fault, I swear!! That'll learn him to send it to me early.

• WASTELAND: SANDS OF DEATH (version 0.5) (position E2L3) - Alberto BARSELLA
  99 KB - doom.exe - Single-player/Coop -
  An old wad that never made it to newstuff was generously submitted by SargeBaldy.
  Point of interest number 1: The text file says "This level is the sequel of `Mountain of Fire' and MUST be played after that level, otherwise you will never have enough ammo to complete `Sands of Death'."
  My thoughts on point of interest number 1: You seem to have mistaken me for someone who likes to search through the archives to download a lot of unnecessary files. Just put the maps into one wad! I'm pretty sure back when this map was made they had utilities that could do this for you.
  Point of interest number 2: There is a huge ammo cache right at the beginning of this level.
  My thoughts on point of interest number 2: You definitely have enough ammo to beat the map. Saying you need to get the other wad must be nothing more than a plug. Thanks a lot, Alberto. And try to spell your name without caps lock.
  Point of interest number 3: Most of the outdoor sectors of this map will hurt you like nukage.
  My thoughts on point of interest number 3: I had to play this wad three times before I figured out that I'm not getting shot by a distant spider mastermind, but that I'm getting hurt by walking on dirt. I thought, maybe the idea is to get off of the dirt and stand on paved (or marble) floor. I did so, and I was fine. Then I went around to the other side of the marble floor and I started getting hurt again. Finally, I figured out that the bright sectors hurt you, and you have to stay in the shade in order to avoid getting hurt.
  While this can make the map interesting and add a nice original challenge, I really wish it was made more clear how this works. After discovering this, I checked the text file to see if there was any mention of this effect, and I found one halfway through the backstory: "He directed his feet towards the building but, as soon as he reached the sunny area, he felt the impossible heat of the sun bite his armor and flesh." This story is at least three pages long. Do you want to read that much, or do you just want to play the wad?

  After you get past these little gripes, the level runs fairly smoothly. The switch-hunting is a major pain in the anii, though. It got to the point that I had to open this map in my editor at least 10 times to find out where that switch is that I just couldn't find.
  Also, I find this map could have been tested more thoroughly. At one point, there's a floor that raises to a door requiring a yellow skull key. If you don't have the key, you have to jump off the raised floor which will never lower again. You need to idclip (or idspispopd, rather) when you actually find said key.
  I'm just glad I don't do Grazza's "Wad of the Week", because this would be it. And it definitely doesn't deserve to win. Mostly what this wad accomplished was making me tired of Doom's intermission music.
  
  

• Batman DOOM for DOOM2 - ACE Team Software
  5650 KB - Boom or Zdoom/doom2 - Single-Player -
  Sargebaldy uploaded this one as well. I don't know about you, but I was always fairly sure Batman Doom was in the archives somewhere. Maybe they weren't.
  Anyway, I won't waste my breath (or typing, as it were) reviewing this as everyone knows what it is, and I won't bother with screenshots because it's hosted here on Doomworld and there are plenty of shots to be found there. I'll just say that if you're one of the new (or out of the loop) doomers that have never played this, you really should.
  P.S. If you're wondering why I would pick Sands of Death over Batman Doom, I would have disqualified the latter because it was released long ago. But it's all a moot point because I don't *do* Wad of the Week. Can we move on, please, if that's okay with you? Jerk.
  
  
• Ohgr's Doom (2004) - Charles Laird "cyanide-x"
  1010 KB - Recommended for Zdoom or Legacy/doom2 - Deathmatch -
  Where should I begin? Well, it doesn't matter how good you make it, people are just going to make fun of it if you put an Icon of Sin in a deathmatch level. Aside from that, the one map is tiny. Yet, the wad has a gigantic filesize (due to a pile of texture replacements, half of which are not used at all), really obvious unclosed sectors, and some backward teleport lines.
  On the filesize issue, if you take a quick scroll upwards, Batman Doom has a zipped size of 5650 KB, which is roughly five times the size. This is with 32 times the number of maps (which are all much bigger), and complete sprite replacements for over 90% of Doom 2's resources. So, what's the big resource hog in this one?
  Ignoring all the bad stuff, this is about as average as a DM level goes. Some fairly good detail, straightforward gameplay, symmetrical design (/me hears Deathz0r groan). So if you feel like downloading a huge file to play your average everyday DM level and having to deal with a million tiny little monsters filling your little arena (-nomonsters doesn't help you out, either), go ahead and pick this one up. And if you see me chuckling as you do so, I'm laughing at something unrelated.