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Bloodshedder

The /newstuff Chronicles #413

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  • Doom the Way id Did - Various
    Ultimate Doom - Vanilla - Solo Play - 2005606 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Doom the Way id Did is a 27 level replacement for the original Doom that promises to recreate the original experience, and boy does it deliver! ALL maps in this Megawad are flawless "brothers" of the original three episodes from Doom, both in terms of gameplay and looks.

    The authors know their job and have clearly given us a fresh breath of hellish air after all these crappy Wads that have flooded the online Doom community. All levels play exceptionally well and will give plenty of enjoyment to those who want a truly genuine recreation of the original Doom gameplay. Levels can be played nice and slow, but like in the original game you'll get much more excitement by diving into danger. Simply put, DTWID is a Megawad made for speedruns. All maps have a very balanced complexity, not numbingly simple, but also not mazey/puzzling. Furthermore there are a lot more secrets to be found, which in my opinion are much more clever than the ones in Doom.

    Unavoidably though, there are some flaws... no game breaking flaws, but flaws nonetheless. First of all, the reason why this Wad is so great turns out to be its biggest problem: it's way to similar to the first Doom! From map names to overall design, everything is too... Doom! And I know this sort of criticism sounds stupid in a Wad like this, but that's my humble opinion about it. Furthermore, gameplay-wise this feels like a watered down version of the original. It's a bit easier and will put you in less memorable situations from the original. If I close my eyes and think about the levels of Doom, I will remember some very cool locales with some nicely placed enemies and traps. If I do the same with this Wad, I will just remember something that looks quite similar to Doom, just a bit less exciting.

    Having said all this, do I freaking like this Wad or not? Well, despite the previous negative portion of the review I absolutely love it, but I felt obliged to mention the problems in this otherwise masterpiece. Almost flawless awesomeness.

  • Velocity CTF - The Mechanix Union
    Doom 2 - CTF Support - CTF - 3449638 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: HumanBones
    As the multiplayer community began shifting away from creating CTF wads, I was afraid the end was near and I would have to continue playing the same dull maps over and over. Until Velocity came out, there was nothing worth playing at all. It was almost as if someone heard my desperate cries and decided to not only release a new CTF wad, but release a CTF masterpiece.

    I have to praise the layouts throughout this wad. On Map01 you'll find yourself battling lava pits and pesky lifts in order to get the flag, which is so devilishly placed at the highest reachable point of the entire map. Not to worry, if you do manage to sneak out with it you'll be back in your own base in less than 10 seconds. The layout leaves nothing to the imagination and there aren't many places to hide, so you better hope your team can return the flag quickly.

    Map02 is a bit more complicated. In the middle you can pick up a single MegaArmor on your way into the base, which might seem like a maze to the untrained eye. If you survive long enough to reach the flag, you can head back out in two directions or jump through the teleporter for a bit of a shortcut. If you get to safety, you can find plenty of places to lay low until you can score. My only issue with this map is that I wish the flag room was a bit larger. It's really really cramped and anyone defending with good aim will make this one a nightmare.

    Map03 returns to simplicity, with two ways in and two ways out of each base. You can either run in guns blazing or jump down with a sneak attack from atop the ledge. The layout leads to some fun, fast-paced and close games. I have always found myself enjoying this map, whether it be attempting to sneak out with the flag or the constant barrage of enemy players trying to kill me. No room to hide.

    Map04 is my favorite of the entire wad, due in part to the amazing green slime that is all over it. Something about it oozes cool and it gives the map that touch it needs. This is another really easy to navigate map. You can run straight into the base where you'll be sure to run into at least one or two enemies, or you can jump down directly on top of the flag and have to deal with the same thing. The best way to get out with the flag in this one is to grab it and then immediately jump on the lift behind it to give yourself height advantage. You will still need help from your teammates, but you can survive long enough to get to them. It's a lot of fun trying to coordinate an escape.

    Map05, my second favorite. Straightforward and to the point. Behind each flag is a seldom-used and easy to camp room reachable only by teleporter, but in reality provides the only place to hide here. You'll have to be quick on your feet if you get killed and someone grabs your flag, because there is no room for error. They will be across the map and back into their base in 5 seconds. There really isn't much of a strategy here; you just have to barge in and barge out. I really enjoy the pace of this one, as I don't like getting bored during a game.

    Map06 proves to be a departure from the first 5 maps, in layout and ultimately gameplay. Long gone are the small and quick maps; this one is anything but cramped. A flag runner is almost guaranteed a trip out of the enemy base with the flag no matter what entrance is used (two big openings at the front or a teleporter behind the flag). If you decide to take the main route at the front of the base, you can very easily sneak up the stairs, grab the flag and have a choice of exit strategies. You can run back out the way you came in, or you can wait for a teammate to open the bars that lead to the teleporter behind the flag for a quick escape to the middle. This one is next to impossible to defend, but you will almost always find yourself in a flag standoff.

    Map07 has the most interesting layout yet. It is important to note that there are technically two middles of this map that run right next to each other, although I do believe the tunnel is used less frequently. Once again we are faced with two ways into the enemy base. One simply takes you right into the base. If you take the tunnel you will have to run through a gate that will close a few seconds after you use it, but if you are quick enough you can grab the flag and still make it through before it shuts. You can't open it from the outside, so that is my preferred way of escaping. If you are too slow you can run back out into the open, or you can take a teleporter that is mostly useless because it takes you no more than a few steps out of the main base. The trick here is a bit of timing and a bit of finesse; either will throw off the other team.

    Map08 is probably the hardest one to score on because everything is so out in the open. If a defender is placed correctly, he can see everything that comes into the base. Not only that, but when you grab the flag you have two choices that will both lead you out into the barest middle of the pack. You can run straight out and hope that someone doesn't snipe you from behind, or you can take a bridge that runs across the top of the map where it might be easier for the other team to kill you. There isn't much substance here, and the layout is pretty generic, so I'd have to put it down as my least favorite.

    Map09 is tied with Map05 on the favorites list. It is very, very hard to score on, but the reward for doing so is extreme gratification. There is one way in and one way out of the flag room, and it's not until you clear that door frame that you can start getting creative. You can run straight out and attempt to score by taking one of the two hallways that lead directly into your base. One of them stays level with the rest of the map, and the other one takes a short underground detour. The coolest way to go is the area outside of the bases, where there is only lava and a thin strip of land that will take you back and forth to each base. This spot is rarely checked and is the ideal place for hiding during a standoff. The only bad thing about it is it's hard to get to in a regular game without being spotted because of the fast-paced nature of the map.

    Map10 at first glance looks like there wasn't much thought put into it, but the layout translates all right when played with other people. The flag is placed in a rather obvious spot, I think a better placement would have been where the SSG is in each base. At least then it would be difficult for flag carriers to get out. I find the map pretty boring, and it could have something more exciting in the middle.

    Map11 isn't bad. I do have a problem with it though: I sure do wish it wasn't so easy to get out of the base. Once you have the flag you can take a teleporter over to your right that will take you right out into the middle and almost directly into your base. It's making it way too easy. The teleport is a good idea, but it shouldn't give anyone that much of an advantage. I think other than the easy way out, all the other entrances make it challenging for a runner. The gate is a good way to burn people, and you can easily lose someone by taking a quick turn in the middle.

    I love everything about Map12. There are so many things you can do here, and it's certainly geared towards the more creative and patient player. Something that was done right is that if you grab the flag and run into the teleporter behind you, you aren't home free. You actually have to activate a gate and wait for it to come down, and even then you still have 50% of the map to cover. If you're not careful, you can be easily tricked by a runner here going around in circles, since there are 3 separate ways into each base. All in all one of the more solid maps in the pack, and a great closer.

    If you really love CTF packs and haven't had the chance to check this one out, I very highly suggest you do. It's the best I've seen in a long while.

  • Brother in Arms - Arrowood
    Doom/Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - N/A - 28925792 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Brother in Arms is a gameplay Mod for Doom/Doom 2 and for the ZDoom, GZDoom and Skulltag engines. BIA is a great example of an exceptional idea gone wrong. Think of the Brutal Doom mod but without the carefully-though balance... that's what BIA is. If the developer was a bit more careful it could be the next great thing in the Doom community. Is it fun? Well, hell yeah! But that's not enough for me.

    What this Mod adds is the ability to summon helping bots by picking up certain items like health and stimpacks, or soulspheres and megaspheres. There are a lot of bots for you to summon, like U.S. Marines, Nazis, S.W.A.T., Spetsnaz, Tanks, flying Tanks and helicopters, and even more specialized bots like magicians, a very powerful Doomguy and his... rabbit, and we even have Xenomorphs and Predators! These chumps are very fast, very powerful and throw small power-ups.

    But there are a lot of very, very big problems that are far from my usual nitpicking. First and foremost: All bots are WAY too strong. Pick the hardest level in Doom 2 and summon a squad of 3 Commandos... guess what? Everything in your path will be wiped out, and your friends will still be there and ready for some more! Furthermore, there is little strategic value here. Some bots have shotgun-like weapons, some automatic ones, and some are melee fighters, but they all are pretty much the same, and lets not forget the fact that it's so damn easy to get a summoning radio. Let's say that I forgive the Mod for having these flaws (which I don't), and let's say that it was actually aimed for the toughest maps imaginable... well guess what? The helpers are so freaking strong that they can clear your toughest slaughter map in NIGHTMARE MODE!

    This mod could win an easy 5/5 and a dozen of cacowards if it was more balanced. It will give you some hours of fun, but once you realize that the challenge is gone and there is no strategic value in your troops, you'll soon get bored of it.

  • Grim Sense of Humor - The Brothers Grim
    Ultimate Doom - Vanilla - Solo Play - 198548 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Grim Sense Of Humor is not grim, it has no humor, and most importantly makes no sense! It's a 9 level Wad that replaces (more like defiles) the first episode of Doom. While this might sound like bragging, my first maps were actually worthy of a Cacoward compared to this ultimate noobage!

    I started the game and upon seeing the first room I said to my self, "Oh-oh!" A square room with a door, some shells and armor... beginner stuff! GSOH offers 9 extremely boring, unoriginal and easy levels obviously made from a team of absolute noobs. It is boring room after boring room, filled with imps and humans with no extra details, just some walls that don't even have correctly aligned textures. Lighting is as simplistic as possible, and switches are many times above your line of sight, and finally doors usually have the same texture as the rest of the room, leading to a lot of wall humping. This Wad is so damn bad that even when you compare it to other beginner Wads it is still worthless. Please, guys... before uploading something, THINK about the quality of your work. [Ed: Or in this case, the quality of someone else's work, as this is a wad from 1994.] You damage this otherwise wonderful online community by not offering anything worthy of playing.

    Overall: Crap, crap, crap and then some more. The noob factory strikes again and spews another sample of the "awesomeness" that can be found so easily in /idgames.

  • Extorta Montra v1 - fiend-o-hell
    Doom 2 - PrBoom+ - Solo Play - 1237311 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Extorta Montra v1 is a single level Wad for Doom 2. According to the author, this is his current top achievement, the combination of all his years of modding and Wad playing, and I totally agree! Indeed this Wad features a very well designed map, obviously by quite an experienced author, and more importantly it plays very, very good.

    Extorta Montra is for those who love VERY challenging maps where you have to conserve your ammo carefully and put your FULL skills at test. There are a lot of great challenges in here, like for example a multiple Cyberdemon battle in a very narrow place with a BFG and a couple of Megaspheres lying around, or one of the earlier battles where you will be confined in a very narrow place trying to avoid damage from all directions, and probably try to make the demons kill each other. Rest assured, this is one of these save-every-10-seconds kind of Wad, perfect for Coop runs. Somewhat linear and certainly far from perfect, but a very enjoyable map.

    Visually/technically the map has an above average design made for those who like the old school Deimos/hellish style of the original Doom, and what a nice music theme too. Word of caution: apart from many graphic bugs which I don't really care about, I've witnessed a couple of game-crashing bugs, one at the Cyberdemon battle where I couldn't find the exit, and one at certain areas where my character would fall in a non-damaging pit from which he could not escape. I don't know if it just me... I've used all my available engine ports.

    This must have for those looking for a big, very challenging and good-looking Wad. Download it and play it NOW!

  • Doom2 Meets Zdoom - Unholypimpin
    Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 20049224 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Doom 2 Meets ZDoom takes the first 11 levels of Doom 2 and redecorates them by using a lot of the stuff that is possible with the ZDoom engine. The result: Doom 2 slightly more boring but way more beautiful.

    All levels from the original Doom 2 have been greatly enhanced, mainly in terms of looks, but the authors have added a lot of new sections between the "old" ones, with some nice surprises available. The more I would play though, the more I would get the feeling that this was a Wad that had more looks than substance. Picture this: A level in Doom 2 has a door, a ceiling light and a small platform with a weapon on it. This wad takes this room and adds windows with glass, rotating lights in the ceiling, and a lot of slopes to enhance the platform in the center. That's what D2MZD is all about! Everything is way more detailed with a lot of ZDoom features used, like underwater sections, a LOT of slopes, colored lights, and so on. The gameplay is somewhat the same though, if not watered down a bit. Especially in the new areas that have been added, enemy placement seems quite generic and unimaginative. I've also felt that this Wad made all levels feel a tad easier. Finally, since this isn't exactly a finished project, it has a lot of bugs and some design flaws. Now, apart from the main 11 levels, the authors have included 3 all new secret levels that lean on the slaughter-map side and are a bit better to play than the rest of the maps, but, on the other hand, have nothing in common with the main project.

    All in all, is it bad? Well, not bad, just average. It makes good ol' Doom 2 feel a bit better than this "improved" version of it.

  • Zones of Fear - Damned, Des_arthes, enkeli33, jaeden, klofkac, pipicz
    Doom 2 - Boom Compatible - Solo Play - 12528458 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Zones Of Fear is a 32 level Megawad from a Czech team of Wad authors. This is one of these Wads that makes me sad to write a negative review about, because it had a lot of potential. The authors know their job perfectly. I haven't found a single flaw design-wise... but the more I would play, the more I would see how boring ZOF actually is.

    Let's start with the good stuff: ZOF looks very good from the beginning to the end. All levels are very well made and quite detailed without being extremely fancy. Almost all levels have a very simple concept: the typical find the 3 keys-style gameplay with the 3 key-locked doors being located close to each other so that you won't have to backtrack a lot. The challenges that that you will face along your trip are very well thought, not extremely challenging but will keep you on your toes. Furthermore, contrary to other Megawads, here things start more moderate and get harder with each level passed. I simply hate it when I see Cyberdemons and Spider Masterminds in the first level!

    Now the bad, the things that break this otherwise great Megawad: First the nitpicking: if you are one of those who likes continuity, there isn't any in here... the castle leads to a UAC warehouse, which leads to a bloody temple, which leads to a Nazi outpost, which leads to a city area, which leads to hell and so on. And the music accompanying you... meh! But these are small flaws. What are the big ones? Well, levels are way too long for what they have to offer. All levels apart from 3-4 have the same concept, and they follow the same style of gameplay: Enter room, press switch, open trap, kill baddies, press the right switch to progress, and repeat that a couple of more times... and that just for one key. Soon things become more and more boring due to the length and unoriginality plaguing all levels, with levels near the end becoming more and more slaughter styled; just collect ammo and kill baddies!

    So in my opinion Zones Of Fear, while very enjoyable for a couple of hours, is not a Megawad worth playing through and through, at least not more than once. It soon gets very boring and predictable, since all levels are pretty much the same.

  • DANTE.WAD - CYBER MILAN 1995
    Doom 2 - Vanilla - Solo Play - 67025 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: st.alfonzo
    Publius Vergilius Maro, the guide known otherwise as Vergil, remains even to this day the man to trust in pending forays into Hell. The guy could stand you by a stinking pit and convince you beyond all doubt that "actually, Geoffrey, it really is the ideal place to have lunch!" despite the rampant screaming. But yea, within the world of Doom .wads, not even dearest Publius could triumph DANTE true. It is a disaster of a map set that would benefit no more from a tour guide than it would a 10 ft iron girder swung intently at its forehead.

    Of course, the typically redeemable qualities of maps from 1994 and '95 are in the gameplay, since the visuals are understandably hideous, and if I wanted to stretch the boundaries of truth a little bit, then at most it could be said that DANTE knows what sort of play it's trying to achieve. Of the three maps featured, there are very few encounters that are "between places," and everything from scale to battle is bold, brash, and unapologetically so. Where it fails -- predictably -- is in its fatal design flaws, complete lack of balance, and an unimaginable tedium brought on by slow moving floors and featureless hallways. Appropriately enough, the whole experience might be likened to shuffling after a museum curator in the modern arts department (circa 1995), where everything is separated by a minimalist yard and the objects that are supposed to hold your interest are too experimental and simplistic for the artist to be given credence...

    Tagless secrets, flashing goggles, and cyberdemons abound; there are very few reasons for which I could recommend this .wad, save perhaps to those who collect such horrors.

    Move along!

  • Evil Unleashed - Stedman Wilson
    Ultimate Doom - Vanilla - Solo Play - 92360 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: cannonball
    Evil unleashed is a 3 level wad replacing E1M1-3 of Doom. This was uploaded by Perseus and, well, it's the same typical 1994 crap which we would expect.

    So then, the 1st level is a series of rooms with one wall texture, one floor and ceiling texture, with no inspiration whatsoever. There are a few switches which open up some more areas; one is correct, and another is a trap. The first sets off four barons after you ,and when looking for the exit, one switch will let you leave, and the other will open a monster closet with a cyberdemon. There are some nice little touches. The crusher room contains a red cross and green circle which allows you to control the crusher; the red cross starts it, the green circle stops it. I quite liked this, and it makes completing this map possible. The best weapon you get is a chaingun, not good for fighting a cyberdemon. In the end, this map is lacking in detail, but passable.

    Second map, good god, well you cannot complete this map without cheating, as the second door you meet does not work. Yet again the same theme of random texture/flats continues like it's some competition to put every single texture into the wad. To be honest, the reward for cheating is 3 cyberdemons with not enough ammo to take them down and no gimmicks to achieve cheap kills. So pretty much forget this level.

    Third map, oh god, the bullshit meter has just exploded in my face. Four switches greet you, but only one will give you entrance to the rest of the level. The others will open up a cacowave which will cause you to crap yourself like the cacowave from holyhell. After that, more crap, the chaingun is trapped to set off a crusher which you can escape from, but not on your first play-through. Then there are switches; one raises some stairs to the red key door, the others open up monster closets containing, yeah, more cyberdemons, with yet no fire-power to fight them. Now the red key requires another trial and error puzzle; oh wait no, the doors don't work, silly me, so this map is also not completable without cheating. Oh yeah, three pressure pads, two are trapped, of course! After getting the key, it's not so bad, in fact you at least get some weaponry to fight the traps you previously skipped, but not enough to be honest. The detailing is a little better in this map.

    In the end, two maps are fatally bugged, lots of ridiculous trial and error puzzles with no intuitive solution other than try one switch, crap, restart etc., if it actually works mechanically in the first place. Mostly it's another dull uninspired map set which stinks of first wad disorder, along with other bugs such as a few missing textures here and there, but they are not too noticeable. This would have been better off burning in the nether reaches of the Internet rather than coming back to ruin my morning, though I have played worse... I think.

  • Colloseum - MAK3
    Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - Solo Play - 41419 bytes - (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Colloseum is a single level Wad for Doom 2. This is one of these Wads that stand out from the typical, key fetching and demon killing old-school Wads, slaughterfest maps, mazes and so on. However, nice and original ideas don't mean a thing if they aren't implemented right.

    Colloseum puts you in the role of a trapped Doomguy who has 50 bullets for his pistol and his faithful but oh-so-lame fists. Using these he will battle against Cacodemons, Imps, Pain Elementals and even a Baron of Hell, using only your fists and 50 bullets... yup, I'm not joking. While an interesting idea, it could be better implemented. For example: after each battle you could get a weapon and only the ammo that comes with it, maybe we could have a couple of berserks or a chainsaw around the place, and so on. After completing the "arena" portion of the map you escape, and then the game becomes a boring quest to find some unexcitingly hidden keys, kill some unexcitingly placed baddies, and find the unexciting exit.

    In my very humble opinion, nice idea, bad implementation.

  • Can't Run From Evil (Part I) - NokturnuS
    Doom 2 - PrBoom+ - Solo Play - 4502822 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: vdgg
    Can't Run From Evil is a 4 level out-of-nowhere mapset by NokturnuS, provided after some years of the author's silence. The maps are huge, allocating 2-3 hours PER MAP would be recommended on your first playthrough. This should not put you off, however, as the mapset is one of the finest moments in the history of Doom map making. Yes, you heard it right.

    The zip includes a palette changing WAD, which is heavily recommended. After disabling it, I felt something was not right with the visuals. All the screenshots were made with the palette WAD enabled.

    The maps can be played in any order; there is no continuity or consistent theme. MAP01 and 02 are techbases, MAP03 is a city level, and MAP04 is a marble-themed, mostly outdoor map.

    The techbases are very stylish; stock textures and new textures blend very well together. What is special about them is the way they are played: on MAP01 you start in a big room surrounded by low-tier monsters, and you will be surrounded pretty much for the rest of the time, as monsters roam freely in the entirety of the map, and almost every room or corridor is connected to another 2-4 rooms or corridors. There are no arch-viles present on the map, but the amounts of medium-tier monsters, mainly hell knights and revenants, are high enough to make you sweat a few times while playing. There is only one keycard on MAP01 which means great freedom... and cluelessness on the first playthrough.

    MAP02 plays in a similar vein; you start surrounded and your firepower is limited (shotgun/chaingun against hordes of cacodemons), so you must try to keep moving, looking for ammo and for better weapons. The map has all three keycards now, but is by no means more linear than MAP01. Freedom, exploration, fights, all intertwined by watching the architecture with awe. These two maps are on par with Vrack 2, to put it simply.

    Another gem in the set, MAP03, is a slightly gothic-themed city, with a few elements resembling the fourth map of Caverns of Darkness. This time NokturnuS adds quite a few arch-viles and cyberdemons to the monster repertoire and the result is rather brutal, even if you finally have plasma weapons at your disposal. You either shoot the arch-viles and revenants from the outside of the buildings, wasting way too many rockets (walls and ledges are built on purpose in a special way so they are somehow protected), or risk fighting them face-to-face.

    The last map may be the least spectacular one; the marbles seem less convincing than the omnipresent gray and BLUECOMP textures from the previous maps. Some hidden invulnerabilities make you wonder when to use them after you become familiar with the layout. It is a very unforgiving map when played for the first time; if you get the plasma gun right away, it means hordes will attack you in no time.

    Speaking of difficulty, UV is on the brink of being masochistic, HMP is very challenging, and HNTR allows the player to breathe, but still they have to be careful. Keep in mind that I am speaking about playing with no saves here.

    There is no excuse no to try this awesome WAD. Everything you need is here: top-notch architecture, challenging, original gameplay. If you are a mapper, this mapset may inspire you... or make you delete Doom Builder from you hard drive upon realizing that no matter how hard you try, you may never achieve this level of perfection.

  • Parkour - Xaser Acheron
    Doom 2 - ZDoom Compatible - N/A - 25509 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: Ofisil
    Parkour is a very good weapons mod for Doom 2 & ZDoom. It has many weapons, all great, diverse and quite balanced from what I've experienced. Furthermore, it is compatible with the BrutalDoom mod, one of my all time favourites.

    Weapons available:
  • Pistol: The pistol is now faster like a semi-automatic rifle and requires reloading.
  • Akimbo Pistols: Two fast pistols, main attack key shoots with the left one and secondary key shoots with the right.
  • Shotgun & Double Sawnoffs: Simple shotgun that is faster and needs reloading, and two double-barrelled shotguns (like the Akimbo Pistols) that shoot twice.
  • Chaingun: Main attack is a slow starting but very fast shooting chaingun, and secondary key throws a grenade (that can be bounced on walls) that uses rocket launcher ammo.
  • Rocket Launcher: Main attack fires five very fast rockets before reloading, secondary key is a powerful flamethrower that uses plasma cells.
  • Plasma Rifle: Err... typical plasma, just a bit more fancy. Secondary shot: Charge your rifle for a couple of seconds and then shoot a very strong plasma shot.
  • BFG: Your typical BFG shot. Secondary: a SWARM of various energy shots, great for crowd control.
  • Cyberdemon's R.Launcher: Shoots a Cyberdemon's rocket. Secondary: A chaingun-like powerful shot, (almost as powerful as a rocket launcher).
  • A very strong chaingun with 2 modes, both seem to fire shotgun like pellets.
  • 3 melee styles. Both Fists, a kick-jumping attack and a dash attack.
    The things that are great with these nice little thingies? They are quite balanced, are very fun to use and like the author informs us the file is tiny. Why? Because it is just pure code and ZDoom textures! This might not be very obvious at first, but soon you'll see it. For example, the flamethrower uses the arch-vile’s fire attack sprites, while many weapons are just differently colored versions of the originals. There is only one bad thing here (more like nitpicking). This mod is great for tough Wads, mostly slaughter style ones, because almost all weapons damage large areas.

  • Wolfenstein-D - DooMWaR
    Doom 2 - Limit Removing - Solo Play - 361702 bytes - (img) (img) (img) (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: jetset125
    wolf-d.wad is a small collection of maps, 6 in total, which are based off episode 1 of Wolfenstein 3D. There is a full enemy sprite overhaul with the 3 types of enemies and 1 boss (guess who) you'd expect to run into in a Wolf3d conversion. However, the 3 weapons you end up using, akin to Wolf3D's loadout, remain untouched.

    These maps are an interesting trip down memory lane for an avid Wolf3D fan, though the overall looming feeling throughout was a bit... off. As a Doom player though, expect to only use your pistol until map 4. The levels are fun to traverse through, plenty of ammo, and only subtle things are changed here and there to fit the Doom engine. However, id definitely did a better job at recreating Wolf3D in Map 31/32 of Doom 2.

    This being said, I'll name a few inconsistencies I noticed. Level 31 of Doom 2 is more complete than level 1 of this wad. The dogs seem to just be a cosmetic replacement of the pinky demons, with waaay more HP than everything else. Hitler suffers from this syndrome as well in relation to the Spider Mastermind. Aaanndd finally, the Pacman level is flooded with enemies, making it stupid hard, even after finding the chaingun.

    I noticed author "DooMWaR" claims, "I MADE THE CHARACTERS SPRITES AND SOME TEXTURES. SO GIVE A CREDIT!" "Made" in this case, probably means "Converted Myself." With the exception of the last level, which contains some custom text put on a few textures resembling boxes.

    Being entirely overly critical because of a love for Wolf3D, and for this wad being in sort of an identity crisis, it's not terrible if you're looking for something different to play, and takes about 30-45 minutes to work though if you don't die (which isn't hard 95% of the time). Enjoy!

  • Rats Solitaire - Isle
    Doom 2 - ZDoom - Solo Play - 143694 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: WildWeasel
    Ever since Isle posted the screenshots of Rats Solitaire on the ZDoom forums in 2009, I'd been hyped up for it. I mean, Isle has already put out some hugely impressive ACS work in the form of the ACSrcade and the casino minigames (among many, many others) in Urban Brawl, so how could it go wrong? Plus I really like Rats-style maps (ever since SiN), so this one already looked to be a winner.

    And, well, I can't see any major complaints here! As a very, very tiny Doomguy, your mission is to play a game of Klondike (with three-card deal only) atop the world's largest kitchen counter. You can move cards by running up to them and pressing Use. If you get bored of playing with cards, you can explore the kitchen and commit suicide in various amusing ways, such as diving off the counter, standing on a hot stove, high-diving into the garbage disposal, or inserting yourself into the toaster (twice).

    If I have anything to whine about here, it's that while there are options to turn on scorekeeping and the game timer, you can't choose to play a one-card-deal game, and there are few good vantage points from which to view the entire tableau (though you can climb a conveniently placed stack of Doom crates to see from above, or ride the lift up the back of the fridge to see from a distance, you'd need to have a pretty high screen resolution to see the cards clearly).

    If you have even the slightest interest in a good solitaire game, this is probably the best possible way to play it. Don't go in expecting monsters and guns, though. =P

  • Mortal Kombat-D - DooMWaR
    Doom 2 - Vanilla - Deathmatch - 385202 bytes - (img) (img)
    Reviewed by: BloodyAcid
    Two terrible maps with the gimmick of "melee-only," except the author didn't do anything to remove the pistol. The maps are square and ugly (bringing shame to Mortal Kombat), and look like they were made in under 20 minutes. The quality cannot be excused as a "newbie" due to the sheer amount of wads this author has dumped on the archive.

    Apart from megasphere/berserk shortage, there is a rocket launcher replacement in each map. Although it is a fist, it shoots blue explosive sludge, which rather defeats the purpose of melee only.

    You are not missing anything by skipping this wad.

Does this /newstuff Chronicles suck? Does your wise ass think you can write better reviews than these jerkoffs? Then get over to the /newstuff Review Center and help out. I know you must have a Doomworld Forums account because you like griping about every edition in the comment thread, but if you don't, you need to get one to submit reviews.

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fp

Good to see Doom the Way id Did It finally made it out there. I'll have to give it a try.

Also as insulting as this may sound, Ofisil really needs to start proof reading his reviews before submitting them. Either that or maybe have someone do some editing beforehand.

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Craigs said:

Also as insulting as this may sound, Ofisil really needs to start proof reading his reviews before submitting them. Either that or maybe have someone do some editing beforehand.

I edit and correct every review that's submitted, but try not to edit out the author's writing style.

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Bloodshedder said:

I edit and correct every review that's submitted, but try not to edit out the author's writing style.


You're losing your spellchecker touch man

my first maps where actually worthy of a Cacoward compared to this ultimate noobage!


But still, just a bit of a suggestion for future reviews Ofisil, you really shouldn't be referring to mappers as noobs and their work as "noobage". It just sounds kind of... dumb.

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props to bones for reviewing veloctf, in detail and style. i couldn't do it myself, because i felt like i didn't know enough about how the maps played in REAL PLAY.

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Craigs said:

Ofisil really needs to start proof reading his reviews before submitting them.


True. "The authors know their job and have clearly given us a breath fresh of hellish air...

On the other hand, kudos to Osifil for taking the time to do so many of the reviews. He appears to have done the vast majority in this /newstuff chronicles.

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Craigs said:

Also as insulting as this may sound, Ofisil really needs to start proof reading his reviews before submitting them. Either that or maybe have someone do some editing beforehand.


Nuuuh... no insult taken. I don't think that the Grammar Police is the worst thing that has happened too me :)

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Great newstuff all around. I've been enjoying Velocity CTF for a while (ST FNF ftw), and DTWID is lot's of fun too.

I love ending off the newstuff <3


eDIT 2: :)

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Nokturnus has a few entries in his resume that I'd rank in the "top 30 of all time". Can't wait to try out this latest mapset.

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That palette seems to put some weird pixels on demons that I don't remember seeing in Simplicity.

Edit: Turns some pinks white it seems.

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Doom 2 meets ZDoom needed more hype and bang to even compete with KDiZD.

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Belial said:

That palette seems to put some weird pixels on demons that I don't remember seeing in Simplicity.

Edit: Turns some pinks white it seems.


The problem is that index 255 is changed to cyan instead of #A76B6B as in the original palette. And the COLORMAP does remap several pink colors to index 255. So if you are using that palette, then you're going to have reds and pinks turn into cyan in the distance.

http://i.imgur.com/yOmED.png

Note that the actual Simplicity palette (as found in Ultimate Simplicity on the archive) does not contain cyan in index 255. A solution would be to use SLADE 3 to delete the PLAYPAL in altpal.wad and replace it with the actual Simplicity palette. With recent (SVN) builds of it, it's as easy as going Archive->New->PLAYPAL and choosing "Doom Simplicity" in the list of preset palettes. Then, if you are not using ZDoom or a derived port, select that new PLAYPAL and click on Palette->Generate palettes to make the full range of palettes (including pain flashes, pickup flashes, and radsuit).

All other palette indices are exactly identical to their counterpart in Simplicity, it's only index 255.

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Well, Can't Run From Evil is an epic mapset, but damn does it have the worst monster teleporter design I've seen in ages.

I didn't even bother waiting until all the cacos teleported out at the end of map03.

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Can't Run From Evil should have been released map-by-map for FDA contests. The large, open architecture and abundance of challenging moments would be perfect for that.

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abundance of challenging moments

Are you sure? I haven't played map02-04 but 01 was very difficult for me on FDA. I ran out of ammo a few times and had some <10 HP moments. I thought I was incredibly lucky that I managed to finish it. Also skepticist played maps02-04 and he told me that they are very challenging and require a lot of trial-and-error. And I think he is a better player than we are.

(but I too think it would be cool if there were contests on such maps)

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agreed with memfis, ive played map01 so far and i found myself desperately low on ammo a lot of times. this would be very painful to FDA.

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Yeah the maps are quite ridiculous to play without knowing where to go or what to expect and you can easily work yourself into a dead end due to lack of ammo, but it was the same with demonizd map02 so it didn't surprise me.

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"Abundance" means "lots of." I'm not saying this would be an easy contest, but sometimes competition is the right motivation to play at your absolute best, and someone might actually make it to the exit on their first life. It'd be interesting to see.

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Whoops, I read it as "absence". Anyway, I actually managed to finish map01 on my first life, so you can watch this demo if you're interested. Not sure if it will playback with the final version so here is the version that I have: DL

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