Bungleist

One possible solution is to make your project for Doom 1 instead of Doom 2. Episode 1 has its secret exit on the third level, so that would seem perfect. You wouldn't necessarily need to loose out on Doom 2 textures, decorations, or even monsters, as the textures can easily be imported and you can actually use Doom 2 things in vanilla (obviously you'll need to supply the sprites for any D2 decorations or monsters you use in the .wad). About the only Doom 2 thing you wouldn't be able to make use of is the SSG. Since this is vanilla .exe behaviour, I'm assuming Chocolate Doom will support it, too.

Screenshots Added For Great Justice!!!111 (And yes, the Apocalypse ones were taken with ZDoom rather than CDoom, see my first point in the review.) Must have missed Kohe 3 somehow. Kohe 4 and 5 must be a step backward, then.

Since there's been such a huge gap between t/nc instalments, I decided to do one myself. I was planning to review all the wads currently sitting in the /newstuff directory but, well, I got bored halfway through. I'll probably add the rest later. Probably. There also aren't screenshots so, umm, just your imagination or something I guess. EDIT: Screenshots added by popular demand (guess no-one has an imagination)! Adios ZDoom - SP - 131 KB Pic1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Despite being a brand new ZDoom wad, Adios has a very oldschool look to it. The architecture and texture usage remind me of the sort of maps that were coming out in 1996, and indeed this level wouldn't have been too out of place in Memento Mori. This isn't a bad thing, however, but a good thing; I have a great deal of fondness for that era of Doom mapping. The only complaints I do have about the architecture is that it's sometimes a tad too cramped, and some of the rooms are rather boxy; a few more angled walls would improve the looks significantly. The gameplay is relatively oldschool too, although there are a few very basic scripts (essentially just causing monsters to teleport in as soon as other monsters are dead). As mentioned in the accompanying text file it's quite a tough map, and I was surprised when the requisite cyberdemon battle proved easier than some of the earlier fights, with plenty of space and numerous crates to dodge behind. However, after defeating it I was met with a rather unpleasant surprise. Health and ammo are reasonably well balanced, but less talented players will definitely need to take this level slow and carefully, rather than rushing in all guns blazing. Apocalypse CDoom - SP - 398 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 I'll provide some basic data on this set of 16 levels, and let you decide whether it's good or bad: - It requires a port which no-one apart from the person who made it uses. - The first level consists of three rooms, all of which are under 1024x1024 in size. It also has 19 cyberdemons, 112 barons, and 27 arch-viles. All but one of those are in the second and third rooms. - Almost all the other levels have cyberdemons numbering in the double digits, and most have dozens of barons and/or arch-viles. - The second room of the first level has a door which is 280 units high, and disappears into the sky. - There's a room in map11 which, in UV, contains 168 chaingunners. - I'm pretty sure that not a single line in the entire set is aligned on the horizontal axis. Elegy for them Vigil ZDoom - SP - 1387 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 A word of warning: if you're the type of Doomer who dislikes enormous levels, hates non-linearity, and despises key hunting, then this level is not for you. For those 'explorers' amongst us, this map is a godsend: it's huge, there are multiple routes to proceed from almost every room, and it'll take you an age to track down all the keys (and when I say all, I really do mean all; this level uses both the keycards and the skull keys). When I first started the level, it seemed I was due for Yet Another Gothic Level, albeit one whose looks were above average. However, after only a couple of rooms the theme suddenly changed into a cross between GothicDM and Doom episode 4, and only a few rooms after that I was into territory similar to the more industrial levels of Doom 2 (particularly maps 6 and 8). Some areas even have Doom episode 2 look to them. Mixing styles like this often has the result of creating a level that looks as though the author took several unfinished maps and copy'n'pasted them together, but in this case the transitions are done so well, and the interconnectivity is so good, that the various parts generally do seem to "belong" together. Indeed, according to the text file the level is supposed to be a "tech base being turned into an outpost of hell", and that's exactly what the map reminds me of. However, I did find that neither the METAL2 nukage maze nor the ASHWALL3 caves really fit in with the rest of the map; both consist of cramped and undertailed passages, while the majority of the level is more open and much better looking. Besides these two areas, the visuals range from good to fantastic. I particular liked the gothic/hellish hybrid areas, which very much remind me of the last couple of episodes of Paul Fleschute's megawad 'Vengeance'. Gameplay in the level is fairly good. There are a few too many revenants for my tastes, but that's just a personal thing as they're my least favourite enemy. Ammo and health are both balanced pretty well, which is no mean feat considering the highly non-linear nature of the level. There are also some good old fashioned nasty tricks 'n' traps. Generator of Evil Limit Removing - SP - 645 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Question: What happens when someone decides that Hell Revealed, Alien Vendetta, and Deus Veult didn't quite have enough monsters? Answer: You get something like Generator of Evil. While certainly not as OTT as Nuts wad (unlike Nuts, this is intended to be a serious level), GoE is absolutely jam packed with enemies; in UV, there's a total of 2273, and even in ITYTD there's 1816. It all starts off with an elevator ride, during which you can see (but not fire upon) three walkways crammed full of imps (66 each), and numerous ledges packed full of more imps, revenants, hell knights, and mancubi. Proceeding up the only walkway which doesn't currently lead to a dead end, you find yourself on a platform with several megaspheres. Suddenly, a cyberdemon instantly appears before you, and two more start shooting from ledges on either side... and you've most likely still got two bloody great hordes of revenants shooting from ledges behind you. Once you deal with the immediate danger in front of you, you come across two switches, one which requires the blue key, and the other the yellow. These keys are visible on raised up platforms in the distance. Proceeding towards them, you drop down in a hole filled with demons. Maneuvering to deal with them, you cross a line that lowers a wall revealing a horde of imps and mancubi. And so it goes on... Unless you cheat, you'll barely have the time to admire the visuals, but if you do get the chance you'll find it's a really nice looking level. GoE has definitely got that HR 'look', with the first area being the almost-traditional-for-HR huge cavern full of ledges, walkways, and platforms, and in fact it's more attractive than the typical HR level. The author has paid more attention to detail than the creators of HR, though, with some great looking architecture and cool looking lighting effects. On the whole, I'd say the visuals are on a par with Deus Vult. This is very much a hardcore player-only level. It could be quite fun in co-op, but even then you'll need better than average skills to avoid not dying constantly. The Corrupt Pit of Hell Skulltag - DM - 780 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 This level = oldschool looks + oldschool gameplay + minor newschool influences. With the exception of a few slopes, the architecture could be straight out of 1994, although it would have been one of the more attractive maps of that year; in fact, it reminds me of Deadbase, which has long been one of my favourite levels. The gameplay is also nothing to write home about; it consists of running into, out of, and around four almost identical buildings, and over a narrow 3D bridge over an extremely deep pit. The 'newschool influences' consist of speed ramps in each corner of the map, spikes at the bottom of the pit and some of the Skulltag weapons. There also two new weapons, namely the 'advanced shotgun' (Duke Nukem shotgun), and the 'quad shotgun' (Shadow Warrior minigun). Kohe 5 doom2.exe - SP - 49 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 I quit shortly after discovering that the level includes Keen dolls, SS nazis, and Wolfenstein textures. Kohe 6 doom2.exe - SP - 51 KB Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 WTF? A halfway decent (that is, halfway to being decent) Ruba level? Okay, so there are some ugly texture alignments, far, far, *far* too much ammo, and it's way too short, but this improves upon previous Kohe levels by leaps and bounds. Who knows, perhaps one day soon Ruba will make a level worthy of receiving the prodigous 3/5. For now though, I've given this one a 2/5. Revenge of The Kunun doom2.exe - SP - 6 KB Pic 1 Considering this map consists almost entirely of a rocket launcher battle with a cyber demon, it's actually not too bad. The visuals are quite nice, and Ruba does actually seem to have put some thought into the fight... although that said, the cyber could do with a bit more room to move around in. If the author concentrates more on his ammo and health balancing, and on making levels that take longer than 2 minutes to defeat, he might actually come up with something most of us would enjoy.

The same people who pay $50 for a console game when you can buy the same game for $40 on the PC.

Seems like it isn't me who needs his eyes checked... And yes, I agree with MR that the PC version at least looks less blurry (compare the hair, for example).

Well, I've no idea how RE4 plays with keyboard + mouse, but it does indeed cost less on the PC, and I have been told it looks better than the Gamecube version at full settings (EDIT: though I've also heard something about lighting and shader effects being absent in the PC version). However, I should have perhaps said "if a game is currently available for the PC and a console I own", since having to wait several years for the PC version to be released does tend to outweigh most of those advantages ;). I own the Gamecube version of the game, though at the time I bought it the PC version hadn't even been announced.

*Sigh* I'll make this simple: sarcasm is when you say the opposite of what you truly mean. The opposite of "Huh? Make up your mind!" would be "Indeed! Don't make up your mind!", which doesn't exactly make a lot of sense in the context. Therefore it isn't sarcasm. GGG may well have intended his comment as a form of irony, but irony != sarcasm. On the other hand, when RottKing named the Gamarra map "WAD OF THE WEEK!!!", what he actually meant was "WORST WAD OF THE WEEK!!!". Personally I would have thought this statement would be a pretty obvious example of sarcasm, especially since he employed three exclamation marks at the end of it, but apparently not.

If you think you were being sarcastic, clearly you misunderstand what sarcasm is. Read the definitions at the link I provided; your post doesn't fit any of those.

Okay, here is a "serious and useful" suggestion: Hire someone to handle your PR. Otherwise this project will fail soley due to your bad attitude.

Sounds like someone hasn't seen SMDM25: Hang 'Em High.

Why does the PC get disqualified when deciding whether a game is a 360 exclusive? Put it another way, that's like saying Halo 2 is a PC exclusive, because that's the only computer it's available for.

Agreed. I doubt you'll find many people with Doom 3 or Souce editing experience here.

He was replying to Cadman's most recent post, i.e: Q. What don't you want in a deathmatch map? A. Gothic 99. So I think many people would agree with him ;).

Personally speaking, if a game is on the PC and a console I own, I'll always go with the PC version. There are several reasons for this; from most to least important, these are: - The game is probably better suited to keyboard + mouse than a gamepad (especially in the case of FPS' and strategy games). - The console version can't run 3rd party mods. - The PC version costs less money (typically $10 less). - The PC version looks better at maximum graphical settings (okay so your PC may not be able to do that *now*, but most likely you'll eventually have a system capable of doing so). A perfect example is Oblivion. There are so many controls (standard FPS, plus inventory, block, spellcasting, sneak, etc) that playing with a gamepad almost seems unfeasible. There are literally hundreds of awesome mods available for the PC version of the game, many of which I consider pretty much obligatory, especially since the unmodded game is rather lacking in the gameplay department. I can't imagine being unable to use them. I'm also lucky enough to own a system that can play the game at full wack, and I've even manually tweaked the .ini to make it look even more stunning (e.g. increased viewing distances); if I were using the 360 or PS3 version of the game, I'd be stuck with the exact same graphics for all eternity.

Why is it everyone always seems to overlook the Ratchet & Clank series? The first three had awesome gameplay, and they all sold by the bucket load. Yet the fact a new Ratchet & Clank game is coming and it's exclusive to the PS3 always seems to be forgotten when people are complaining/bragging about the lack of PS3 exclusives. Besides, are there even any decent XBox 360 exclusives out this year, other than Halo 3 and Mass Effect? I can think of plenty of other awesome games coming out on that system (Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, C&C: Tiberium Wars, GTA IV, Jericho, Mercenaries 2, Starwars: Force Unleashed, etc), but they're all also coming to the PC and/or PS3. As for the Wii, I think the main reason it's suffering from a lack of games ATM is because companies can't easily port recent/current games from other systems to it. Those that do will by neccessity have to be heavily stripped down, making it a clear choice for us consumers of better graphics versus Wiimote. Most publishers currently seem to think that the majority of gamers are more interested in amazing graphics than they are awesome gameplay, so it is up to us to prove them wrong. (Note that I specifically said publishers; many developers would love to focus more on the gameplay side of things, but unfortunately they're usually not the ones in charge of the financial decision making). Of course, altering the engine so the game is playable on a less powerful system costs the developer a considerable amount of extra time, resources, and money, hence the reason ports are so rare. The Wii is going to have to mainly rely on exclusives, and with publishers preferring more-and-more to develop games on two or more systems simultaneously, it doesn't look too good. That said, we do eventually have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles 2, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Super Mario Galaxy to look forward to. Plus if the total number of Wiis sold ever surpasses the combined number of 360s and PS3s (which could easily happen), it'll force more publishers to focus their attention on the developing Wii exclusives instead of multiplatform games.