The /newstuff Chronicles #178

Glub Glub! It's me, Scuba Steve! Here to bring you this weeks /newstuff. It's just you and me this week kiddos, so we'll make the best of it. We'll have some fun, we'll laugh a little learn a little, and most importantly I promise not to mention Action Doom, the amazing new project coming soon from me.

• Quick and Deadly 2 by DooMBoy (Do I capitalize the y?)
  Any exe -
  Quick like my intercourse skill and deadly like a Ninja, DooMBoy combined two great ideas, a lot of action and a short level. Granted, this is not a novel new approach, but it's still a great deal of fun. Quick and Deadly 2 is the continuation of Quick and Deadly. Seriously, it's true. So I had to go play Q&D1 before playing the sequel, Quick and Deadly 2: Too Deadly. Quick and Deadly 2 is an improvement over the original, it looks better and has more Deadlier. During my first run through, I had grabbed all the doom guns sans the BFG in the first 30 seconds. "Hmm, that's silly" I said... but then it dawned on me... this was quicker! Shorter level, less time to each gun... but don't let that fool you, there's still plenty of deadly to go around. I made 2 attempts (one more than normal) to beat the level without cheats, which says a lot about it. This level is difficult, but far from impossible... for anyone but me. I was quick (like the wad) to notice that Quick and Deadly 2 uses similar traps to the first one, so you might not be shocked at some things.
  
  I liked it very much, a quick wad that is still quite deadly. On the Scuba Steve scale of Rating, 5 Flippers being the Highest and a blowfish being the lowest, I give Quick and Deadly 2...
  
  
  Three Flippers, a Snorkel and a pair of goggles.
  
  
• Dungeons of the Doomed by Rich Carlson
  Any exe -
  Dungeons of the Doomed was originally a Doom level from 1996, converted to a Doom 2 level in 1997 and now revamped today in 2004 with tweaks and fixes. Having gone through more changes than Reginald Dwight's wardrobe, I would expect something a bit flashier, albeit it's not bad, just bland. Most importantly, Dungeons of the Doomed features a new Midi, Night on Bare Mountain by the Famous Russian Composer, Petrovich Mussorgsky. Much like Mussorgsky's work due to his excessive alcoholism, this wad feels unfinished. I spent 80% of the wad in a wooden citadel... and then I felt worried for all the demon inhabitants. I imagine that a wooden citadel would not be best suited for hell, what with the Fire and Brimstone and all. I suppose Fire coverage is high though. Dungeons of the Doomed feels very much like an older level, which is where I find fault. With so many revisions, maybe the 2004 edition should have expanded it father, taking advantage of modern level techniques.
  
  
  Two Flippers and A snorkel.
  
  
• Smoke the Beehive by Rich Carlson
  Any exe -
  I would first like to read to you a snippet from the text file from the Hexagonal wonder that is Smoke the Beehive.
  
  "There is no such thing as
  too many imps. Happiness is a warm gun.
  Don't panic. Etc."
  
  Truly a quote worthy of gracing the pages of the Doom Comic. This map is weird and is centered on a honeycomb setup. Me being the observant one that I am didn't realize that I was in a honeycomb of sorts until I hit the map. It feels very 1996ish, so let me run you through my game. I shot some guys, teleported and died. IDDQD. IDKFA. I shoot some guys with the BFG9000 and teleport. I then proceeded to get lost for 10 minutes, until I realized there were hidden doors in the middle honeycomb. Most interesting is a Giant black obelisk in the main courtyard that does nothing. At least I don't think so, I never was too good with secrets. Props though, the author did arrange his own Midi, however it is not up to the Nationalistic piece that moved the last wad.
  
  
  Three Goggles.
  
  
• Somewhat Evil by Ninja_of_DooM
  Legacy -
  I will first walk you through my attempt to play this wad. Somewhat Evil uses Legacy to play, so being the generous reviewer and tolerant human that I am, I decided to download Legacy to play this wad. I grab Legacy and install it. Install wizard, swell. I start the launcher, add the iwad and the level. Nothing. Try regular Legacy. Error. I move it to the base Doom2 folder. Error. Launcher from the Doom2 folder. Error from this now.
  
  So I start up Zdoom with this wad and I give it high marks. I don't think using Zdoom had too bad an effect on the level. There were a few parts that looked like they would have had a 3D bridge, and the txt file says "Legacy Teleports used", but I managed to get through fine anyways. I'm not very fond of wads that play like original doom or use original textures, but Somewhat Evil is very nice... and playable! I actually played through the entire wad... WITHOUT cheats! Yay. Well... OK, so I fell down a hole because I was playing with clipping to see how far it was not knowing I could die from it. But I started over, clipped to where I was, used the console to give myself the same health, weapons, ammo and armour I had before. That's how dedicated I was to this level. The mod has an embedded Dehacked file, but I'm not really sure what it does, as there are no real discernable changes. SO the review...
  
  
  Four Flippers for Somewhat Evil...
  
  
  ...and the coveted 'Blowfish' for Legacy (or my computer)
  
  
• The Rebirth by Björn Ostmann
  Any exe -
  "Hmm..." I thought when I loaded it up. I had read the text file, and it said this was a 32 level replacement for Doom2, and that "This was the author's first Doom2 level". "Spectacular" I thought. The first level was your basic Doom2 looking level. Smae with the Third, the fourth the fifth... but then things started changing. The levels started growing in complexity and asthetics. Soon I was racing through incredibly detailed levels, that still had a Doom2 look and feel, only 10x better. Imagine a world where Doom2 didn't suck ass, this would be that that game. The new textures and sprites are great and fit well, and the maps even seem inspired by original doom2 levels, but noting looking like crap. Map20 is exactly how "Downtown" (*Vomits*) could have looked if you used the same feel, but knew how to map. You suck Sandy Peterson. The secret levels are great, and the final boss battle is the standard "shoot the head" ending... but the level getting to there is very nice looking. Doom2 sucks.
  
  
  Three Flippers, a pair of goggles and a snorkel.
  
  
• thefwf's cargo bay DM by thefwf
  Zdoom -
  From the Txt File...
  
  "Everyone on WIP for making me realise how boring my wads are :P"
  
  Great! Thanks to all the people on WIP for reviewing this wad for me in advance. The music file is the best part, It sounds like an old Nintendo game, but like the WIP guys said, it can't disguise the boring feel. They make a good case though, it is a tad boring. Not Terrible, just nothing to look at. Like my car, it might not look like an ugly giant monstrosity, but it still runs well after 15 years. Granted, it may be a hog when it comes to gasoline and burn oil like nobody's business, but it's not too bad. It's just that, well it started rusting pretty bad this year and it's just not practical to repair the body on such an old car.
  
  and
  Two Flippers and a pair of goggles because the music is fun.
  
  
• ARENA by Ralf Wueltener
  Any exe -
  Have you ever wanted to battle in an Arena in DooM? What? You have? What's that? You've done it 50 time slready? Come Again? You say you're in the process of making one too? Here's how I'd imagine a... doom arena ...
  
  
  Snorkel
  
  
• STIGMATA by Ray Schmitz (*snicker*)
  Any Limit Removing Port -
  I like this level. It's not Amazing, but it's good. It's solid. Good tunes, some nice architecture. I don't know about gameplay since I blazed through with all cheats, but it looks to be a good challenge. It reminds me of hearing a good song on the radio. Let me tell you a story. Back in 1999 When I first heard "Promises" by Def Leppard on the radio, I had no idea who was singing it, but my inital reaction was "Hey this is a pretty good song", but I was hesitant to say it out loud becuase I thought it might be some modern band and everyone would laugh and call me gay if I had. Fortunately it turned out to be Def Leppard so I could put aside the fears of being ostracized. Like the song though, this wad is solid. Worth a play.
  
  
  Three Flippers and a Snorkel for Stigmata...
  
  
  And one Flipper for 'Stigmata' the movie. I mean, what the hell was that all about?
  
  
• Silent Steel by Bryant Robinson
  Vavoom -
  VaVoom. Therein lies the problem. VaVoom doesn't work on my machine. I blame VaVoom. My computer, old as she may be, should not have troubles running any Doom port. I myself should also not have troubles installing a new port. I may not be as smart as many of you, or as computer literate, or attractive, or drive the nicest car or live in the warmest climate, have as many friends as many of you or just stack up next to anyone here... but I should be capable of installing a new port. Too bad too. Silent Steel looked like a very ambitious project. New Models, stuff from Quake 2, 3D things... so all you get are four screenshots I stole from the website. And as for Vavoom...
  
  
  ...you get the coveted 'Blowfish'