Jan

I've been neglecting this thread a bit, so thought I'd give you all an update. Good news: there are enough maps for a complete episode replacement, including the secret level. I even had to kick one map (former E1M4) to the curb because I wasn't entirely happy with the way it was turning out. Current status is: E1M1: Phobos Terminal: done screenshot 1 E1M2: Sombrero Hoops: done screenshot 1 E1M3: Biolab: done except for the secret level exit screenshot 1 E1M4: Sludge Factory: 50% finished screenshot 1 screenshot 2 E1M5: Fusion Reactor: 80% finished screenshot 1 E1M6: Quarantine Area: 40% finished screenshot 1 E1M7: At Hell's Gate: 60% finished screenshot 1 screenshot 2 E1M8: As For The Cowardly: done screenshot 1 screenshot 2 screenshot 3 E1M9: Tesla/Ohm Labs: done screenshot 1 screenshot 2 PS. Some of the weird level names are actually anagrams I used as a working title. I may still change them, or not :)

If you're going for authenticity, I wouldn't put crates in an E1 map.

Yeah, there's a thread about it somewhere, I should update it sometime :-)

Oh bummer

Those screenshots don't look bad. I'll try out the wad when I get home later. I probably can't contribute a map to this project, as I'm still working on my own episode (no sleep for the dead, aka dawn of the dead 2) but I'd be happy to try any material you have and provide feedback. I do have quite a bit of experience with the E1 style.

So what happened to the three maps? Did you release them?

How come you have 8 free slots, yet you say you have finished 3 maps?

For me Doom was mostly missing more great levels. When I first played the shareware episode, it blew my mind. Then, many months later, when I played through the full version of the game and through Doom 2, I remember feeling quite disappointed with most of the levels. They felt uninspired and lacked that immersive quality of Romero's E1.

1995-ish here ... I had to get a computer that could play it first, my 386sx with only 2MB of RAM couldn't run Doom :) I actually envy the topicstarter in some way. I often wish I could relive that first Doom experience with fresh eyes and let it blow my mind all over again.

Welcome to 1994!

Wow, I know he worked on Daikatana but isn't that a bit harsh?

All it says is that he's "alive and well and currently living somewhere in the Laurel Mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania".

Why? What happened to him?

Definitely a completionist here. I get really annoyed when I press the exit switch of a level I have completed a million times before, and see that I've forgotten one secret, or left a monster alive. Another thing I tend to do is that I always try to exit the level with the maximum health and armor level possible. For instance, if a level has a soulsphere and a blue armor, I will first finish the level and only then go back for the sphere and armor so that I can finish the level with 200/200 health/armor. Early versions of doom shareware, where you could get more than 200% armor by picking up armor helmets were hell for me :D

Another fun fact: did you know that Doom episode 1 contains exactly 100 rockets?

A thing I recently found out is the way armor works. I always thought that the amount of protection provided by armor was proportional to the armor percentage. Turns out that this is not the case, and that the same level of protection is maintained until the armor is completely depleted. Related to this is that I used to think that blue armor depleted to 100% was equal to 1 shiny new green armor, while in fact green armor and blue armor provide a different level of protection. Green armor absorbs about 30% damage while blue armor absorbs 50% damage. You can easily verify this by strapping on a green or blue armor and jumping into a 10% damage pool. With the green armor, your health takes 7% hits while the armor takes 3% hits. With the blue armor, your health takes 5% hits and the armor also takes 5% hits. So if your blue armor is depleted to under 100%, it's often best not to pick up the green armor because it would be a downgrade.

This is a personal opinion, but to me the thing about Sandy's maps is: they are fun and often clever, but they feel like I'm trying to beat a game while Romero's maps feel like I'm trying to survive in a world that's been overrun by demons.

I played through e1m5 yesterday and e2m2 today. Here's my short review: e1m5: it's an ok level, but other than in texture choice, it doesn't really capture the E1 feeling IMO. Things that felt off to me were: - The general proportions of the rooms - The layout feels convoluted and it's difficult to wrap your head around the 3D space of the level - It felt a bit too clean and simple somehow. e2m2: as a style exercise, I found this one much more interesting. It reminded me a lot of the levels seen in the Doom alphas, with some hints of Doom's E2M2,E2M7 and Doom2's MAP10, Refueling Base, which coincidentally also appeared in the Doom alphas in an early form. It feels like it could have been a lost Tom Hall level and a view of what Doom could have looked like if he had stayed with id. In that sense it gave me a feeling of "retroactive" nostalgia. Detail was fairly low which gives the level a very 1993/1994 era look. IMO this doesn't detract from it but instead gives it a feeling of authenticity. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, I'm a sucker for old school level design ;) The gameplay was fun but fairly easy with those large halls to run around in. I only got into a little bit of trouble in the beginning when I couldn't immediately find a suitable weapon, and I ended up being chased by a horde of demons and imps until I could get my hands on a shotgun. The secret hunt was fun too, and I found most of them except the one with the plasma gun, which *had* to be there because of all the plasma ammo you receive.

No problem ;) Very convenient, although I realize I could have just used the wordlist file in /usr/share/dict/words on my linux system. Then it would have been an awk oneliner awk '$1~/ity$/ {if (length($1)==8) print $1}' /usr/share/dict/words|egrep -v "serenity|infinity|eternity"

I copied the words from http://www.morewords.com/ends-with/ity/ ... and then filtered out the 8 letter words with a quick awk script. awk '{if (length($1)==8) print $1}' words.txt

Or choose one of the following :D acerbity acridity activity affinity alacrity algidity anticity asperity atrocity audacity axiality banality basicity bifidity bovinity caducity calamity caninity capacity celerity chastity circuity civility conicity cubicity cupidity debility disunity divinity docility enormity equality equinity exiguity facility fatality felicity felinity feminity feracity ferocity fidelity finality fluidity fortuity fugacity futility futurity gelidity gratuity gulosity helicity heredity hilarity humanity humidity humility ideality identity idoneity immunity imparity impunity impurity inequity iniquity insanity inverity ionicity jejunity jocosity lability lanosity latinity legality legerity lividity locality lucidity majority maturity megacity minacity minority mobility modality molality molarity morality moronity morosity motility motivity mucidity mucosity nasality natality nativity nihility nobility nodality nodosity nubility obtusity otiosity penality pilosity polarity porosity priority quantity quiddity rabidity ramosity rapacity rapidity regality rigidity rimosity rugosity rurality sagacity salacity salinity sanctity sapidity scarcity security sedulity senility serosity severity sodality solidity sonority sorority sparsity temerity tenacity tepidity timidity tonality tonicity torosity totality toxicity triunity tumidity ubiquity urbanity vagility validity vapidity velleity velocity venality venosity veracity vicinity vinosity viridity virility vitality vivacity vocality voracity zygosity

What about "Insanity"?

Already found it ... sneaky though. I even missed it in my editor :)

Got it ;)

Yes, but usually in combination with some STAR* or BROWN* texture. SLADWALL looks ugly at 72 height. Also the BROWN144 texture in the outside areas looks weird. BROWN144 doesn't tile vertically, it should never be used on walls taller than 128.