whirledtsar

IdGames ModDB A reimagining of the Wolf Chapel map from Hexen. The goal was to rework and expand upon the basic layout & ideas from the original. There are two new enemies (the Scimitar and Shadow Wizard) and subtle tweaks to a couple vanilla monsters (eg. Slaughtaurs' eyes glow blue). Furthermore, a few vanilla weapons (the frost shards, firestorm, and mace) have been tweaked to be less random and more reliable. But overall I tried not to go too crazy with custom stuff and mostly stick with vanilla sprites and textures or edits thereof. Includes 4 secrets and 257 monsters on hard (as the Cleric) and takes 25-30 minutes to beat. Tested in GZDoom 4.3.

Updated to 1.2 and uploaded to idgames archive.

Probably one of the numerous sex scandals. Thankfully we've all agreed to move on from those. But for real, my submission to Vargskelethor's Doom mapping contest. It was one of my first maps ever. The level design was decent, but there wasn't enough ammo and it ended with an overpowered Realm667 enemy for a boss. He seemed to have a pretty bad time playing it, and thousands of people watched the stream.

Decided to go back to the texture above and make the wood like like it's set in the material, like wattle & daub. Which looks better, the old or new?

A few Hexen edits. (holding tridents instead of the normal rune) (16u tall version of the metal trim on D_END4)

Because the red demon on the cover ripped them off and all he could find to replace them was weird flesh-tone gloves.

Never been a Didy map i didynt like. Always has interesting themes, good layouts, and reasonable difficulty.

On a similar note, the Cyberdemon originally seemed much larger than he really is. My impression was that he was a giant that towered over everything. But really hes only as tall as a typical 128-unit room.

Brick versions of Hexen's WASTE04: Transparent gate version of Hexen's D_WD07: Various Hexen textures with vines from Blasphemer:

I like maps with custom textures because the standard Doom 2 set just doesnt appeal to me that much. Although herculean efforts like Breach use them very well. Medieval/gothic themes are my favorite, as well as other historical periods like Egyptian and Aztec. Alternate techbase styles like in BTSX are cool too. I enjoy level design in an Ultimate Doom style with a lot of non-linearity and optional areas. Exploration is a huge part of what makes Doom rewarding. For encounters I prefer more modern gameplay with strategically-placed tough monsters. But not when every encounter feels meticulously designed to be super challenging, like some maps in Eviternity. UAC Ultra is like the perfect middle-ground between Doom 1 and Skillsaw wads for me. Not a fan of slaughtermaps. "Preacher" is the only super-high-enemy wad I've enjoyed, because the large majority of monsters are popcorn-tier (imps and zombies). That way there's a lot of threats keeping the tension high, but it doesnt feel like a grind or a puzzle to kill them.

Thanks for the Realms Of Cronos mention. It was started in 2019 but not released until last month, so no need to worry about its place on a 2020 list :)

With the addition of a new ending cutscene and performance improvements to Felstoy Abbey, the project has been updated to version 1.0 (previously rc4).

This thread makes me want a community project where every map is based on a MIDI pop song.

I mean if a rich guy is gonna be doing illegal stuff, it seems much better to be evading taxes and romancing dolphins or whatever McAfee does than doing what Epstein and his buddies (such as gaming titan Bobby Kotick) did/do.

The thing that makes trolling online funny is that the recipients can just stop responding. But they keep engaging with the troll and make a fool of themselves. This Frank Hassle guy just invades peoples personal space in real life and annoys them. Thats just being an asshole.

When theyre well-designed, they add some variety & uniqueness to the wad. When theyre not, theyre usually either too OP or just redundant. Doom 2 already has a pretty damn good monster lineup, so a lot of custom monsters end up being just a version of a regular monster with unnecessarily more health and dangerous attacks. The Astral Cacodemon and brown pinky from Eviternity are perfect examples of this. Whereas the plasma soldier is a good addition IMO because he fits a different role than the rest of the monsters and feels like a normal, fair enemy.

You can do that in GZDoom in the automap options. And PrBoom+ has a textured automap option too (I dont think it can show the sprites though).

Updated to rc1b to fix the progression bug as well as the texture error in Gokuma's map.

Bump for release (download link in OP)

The project is now in beta testing and could use some people willing to play the hub to check for balance & bugs. Feel free to join the Discord linked in OP.

Another possible factor in the myth is that newer players on dosbox may not even think of using the "setup" program and assume the options in the game menu are the only ones available. Since separate programs for configuration havent really been a thing for a long time.

Updated to 1.1 with various changes/fixes, most notably that the exit portal actually exits the map now...

Its great that 3D Realms isnt like a typical publisher and wont completely throw their devs under the bus at the first sign of controversy. Actually talented veteran modders/developers are worth way more to the "scene" than some random whiners who cant handle anybody who doesnt fall in line.

John Romero making you his world-famous brownies?

Nice reviews. As far as I remember, the frozen portals in the hub aren't based on any planned/scrapped maps, theyre just there for decoration.