ICID Posted January 23, 2023 (logo by @4MaTC) ICID, what the hell is this now? Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures is a small project of exploration, interaction, entertainment and reviews where we meet once every two weeks to select random WADs in search of hidden treasures, lost promises, or our worst nightmares! We use the /idgames archive’s special feature that lets us search for random files. Of course, sometimes the results are resources or unplayable stuff, so we focus on looking for WADs. So, what do we do here? Play at least one random WAD in a two-week period of time. WADs are selected using the Random File feature on /idgames or from the list below. Post a review of whatever you play. Always provide the name of the WAD, the name of the author, and a link to the file. Play however you want, on any skill level, and with any source port, as long as you play the WAD as intended/in working shape. Be respectful. It's okay to criticize a map, but remember that many mappers read these review threads and behave accordingly. Also, please don't tag mappers into a negative review of their work. What kind of WADs are we looking for? Any file on /idgames is fair game, but most of us choose to stick to singleplayer Doom or Heretic WADs that work in our sourceport(s) of choice. If you're worried about finding Terrywads or broken files, I also pull at least five random WADs for the event. Feel free to play them with me if you wish, or look for your own! The point of the event is to encourage you to explore this vast, random world. Recommendations for reviewing: Spoiler Please take screenshots or video of your adventures. Commenting the source port and difficulty level is not required, but provides helpful context to your review. Try to stick to no more than 1 WAD per day to avoid burnout, but this part’s all up to you, champ! Reviews of all formats are valid. Both longform and shortform are good as long as you write with integrity. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures of this event: Barnum and Barons JAX03 Pepsi Apocalypse Hell wad pack for Doom II Hell on Earth Buzzard's Delight Level 1 Spoiler The Top 10 (out of 57): 1. @Roofi | 5815 2. @LadyMistDragon | 2665 3. @Sena | 2395 4. @Walter confetti | 1675 5. @ICID | 850 6. @Endless | 815 7. @Thelokk | 725 8. @brick | 665 9. @Clippy | 465 10. @smeghammer | 410 Join the Doom Master Wadazine community for more events like this! » https://discord.gg/Q2RKn4J 2 Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted January 24, 2023 I was writing this review pack for the previous session and this come out! Pepsi Apocalipse sounds hilarious... Walter|1 wad|8 maps Superfast Mapping: Deathmatch Edition by Combinebobnt and Argentum - Boom compatible ports, DM. 2014, played with zandronum 3.1 and bots Spoiler More maps played of this megawad! Some good, some meh. More in detail down there: MAP21: A open square arena, this will be more fun with real players but with bots this map is BOOOORING. MAP22: A very good map visually, reminds me of something that comes out from Eternal Doom, pretty neat stuff. MAP23: Lovely map with a trash looking texture usage, looks like it's more of Phobos dumpster than Phobos Phest. MAP24: Pretty 90s looking map, a little too large but it was fun. The bot gameplay i have this night was pretty impressive, a rising to the victory! MAP25: Interesting map with a pretty interesting theme of mashed-up and twisted themes from hell \ techbase \ mountainous MAP26: One of the best looking Bob map, but unluckily also one of the less fun. The title is pretty neat. MAP27: Very badass map, got lots of fun in this cramped, frantic action-packed arena. Makes me think of Exec DM maps. Great stuff! MAP28: Open map sets in a canyon structure, lots of fun here. I don't get the title. Leaved at MAP29, looks horrendous. 2 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 24, 2023 Act9(2002) by Harry "planetone" Daalmeijer (GZDoom) Some map that I suppose uses ZDoom scripts. It's strange but I actually like another map this guy did many months ago called STREET.WAD better than this Fullbright mess! Like sure, the multiple lift effect and machine-scrolling in the windows at the beginning are kind of cool, but from here, it's traversing a marble temple, taking care of some fairly large but essentially unthreatening ambush, set to the tune of something that sounds like a particularly bad Strife midi. There are a few decent visual touches, like the red key sitting on top of the fountain surrounded by some light effects. Also, there's a series of drainage ditches that sap player health for no reason that can be comprehended. The sergeants sniping at us through the windows was kind of annoying. Map concludes with a group of sergeants watching what's probably an x-rated video. 2.5/10, painless but.... 0 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted January 24, 2023 Year 2 Month 02 Day 11 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] DRILLER'S TOWER BY David Davidson (a.k.a. DRILLER) (1996) Spoiler Quote Nice arena type deathmatch for Doom ][ A simple rectangular made of grey bricks with tons of backpacks laying on the bround and the most important weapons elevated on a tower. The deep blue sky contrasts with the overbright battle zone in an odd way. Very bland. [2] Yangshuo Cavern in China by Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel (2005) Quote DOOM Trivia! Ever wonder where id Software got the sky texture for DOOM in Episode 1? Check out this picture! It is Yangshuo Cavern in China, photographed by Tom Atwood and available on the Media Clips(tm) CD-ROM, (c)Copyright Aris Entertainment, Inc., 1991-1992. 640x480 JPG format image. Note to sysop: The licensing aggreement on the Media Clips CD-ROM allows for free distribution of this image. It's a kind of documentary file which reveals where the first episode of Doom takes place. I'm disappointed to not to have seen a replica of the Great Wall in the episode so. [3] MAXFRAG.WAD by Brian Dunham (1994) Spoiler Quote Quite effective Deathmatch level utilizing responsive logistical projection and mobility. (What that means is you'll be running around like a bunch of squirrels on Prozac.) An ugly deathmatch ultimate doom map where there is no height difference between the sky and the building's ceilings.. It has long bland rocky corridors in order to create interconnections. Your shotgun now sounds like firework. Enjoy ! [4] The Cage II by Michael Szeto (Chi Wai) (1996) Spoiler Quote This is the sequel of "The Cage". This time, you won't have any difficulty in getting out of the cage. Again, it was built for deathmatch games; there are secrets for you to find and monsters for you to kill. Let's see if you can finish it with the "nightmare" skill level when playing alone! I did. Enjoy! A versatile Doom 2 map, both designed for single player and deathmatch which therefore get a grade from me. It has a boxy architecture but I appreciate the emphasis on stairs in order to create pronunced height variations. The author highlights the BFG prisoned in the cage located at the highest part of the map and guarded by two barons. However, grabbing the BFG is not a necessity since the other weapons perfectly do the job. This map will not occupy your for long but it brings a little dose of amusement which I can't refuse. Grade: B- [5] ic2005 by Ian Cunnings (2005) Spoiler Quote The likely final map in the ic200x series. A huge sprawling techbase with textures from a variety of sources. I took almost one hour beating that beast of a map releasing in the middle in the 00's decade. Ic2005 takes place in a large and complex rusty corrupted complex which features an extensive use of Quale textures and the midi rendition of "Sonic Mayhem" from Quake 2. It's a boom compatible-map so some areas can be distingued by their high level of details such as the marbled cavernous part where you have to place the red skull key or the reactor core where you obtain the said key with all its classy 3d bridges. ic2005 can be described as traditional exploration map : find 3 keys in a determined order and monsters get more numerous and beefier as long as you progress. The first place hosts low-tiers enemies, the areas locked by the red-keyed doors have chaingunners and few mid-tiers... and near the end, the author almost exclusively Doom II's bestiary. This level design philosophy results to a very smooth difficulty curve and therefore a pleasant journey with some moderate difficulty spikes. Some special effects help making this level a tad more memorable : the fancy 3D bridges I mentioned earlier, the many translucent doors and my favourite, the electric force field blocking your way (and killing you if you cross it, I didn't try it). If you're looking for a long and classic adventure, I can easily recommand that one. Grade : A The next file is CH Retro Episode (retroeps.wad) but I don't have the time to treat it, so it's all folks ! 5 Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted January 25, 2023 Walter|3 wads|9 maps Total= 3 wads|17 maps Superfast Mapping: Deathmatch Edition by Combinebobnt and Argentum - Boom compatible ports, DM. 2014, played with zandronum 3.1 and bots Spoiler Final run of this megawad, some of the most interesting maps are present in this section imo MAP29: Leaved by the first impresión of a ugly map yesterday, it's not that bad as i tough at first. The timed teleport lift that gives you the juicy stuff (plasma gun) is a pretty neat thing as well as the music choice, but for the other things is just a pretty standard stuff sets in a monochromatic large brown cave. Acceptable. MAP30: A map with a pretty interesting gimmick of having a icon of sin spawning monsters into a locked room in the center of the arena, push a switch and unleash the horde, having the battle between other players (or bots in my case) and monsters, pretty challenging stuff! I liked this one despite it's over-used theme of Entryway remake Dwango5 style MAP31: I remember to have played this map before! It's a level that is restricted to Doom item usage (no SSG in short) and it's strongly based upon Containment Area theme-wise. A fun map, overall. MAP32: A very fun map with a wacky theme (Pinball) that i saw used in another map but not this good! Very funny map with a very neat usage of Doomcute and... Wall alphabet? Sector art? How do you call this? Overall, very fun stuff. MAP33: A greenwar-style arena that was originally in MAP15 slot, it's a cool map. MAP34: A kind of bland map that is made with Team DM in mind, i guess? But works perfectly with original DM as well. MAP35: Final map of the megawad is a map with a weird, "ugly" texture scheme and a well interconnected layout with lots of verticality in it. Fun stuff overall. Overall, it was a fun nice ride with some up and downs, but the good stuff is really good imo. Fun DM megawad! CASTLE OF WIZARDRY by Simon Manton - Vanilla Doom, SP, 1996 but uploaded in 2019, played with Eternity "forseti" 4.0.2 Spoiler A medium sized open map sets in a castle structure that tries to use some sort of "realism" in making it but didn't succeeded at it completely, however the map is cute and the light slaughtermap style with the defending force of 148 monsters in HMP that are just low tier enemies going obliterate from their virtual world in matter of minutes, the best parts are inside the main castle building with some stairs and rooms with a charming simple design, the little maze was cool with a intriguing concept based upon verticality, caged rooms and lifts connecting the maze parts. A pretty basic but cute map,just don't expect to find Castle of Evil here. Catacombs of Knoa by Yupa - Vanilla Doom 2, SP, 2004, played with Eternity "forseti" 4.0.2 Spoiler Last map for today, is a small but pretty detailed map made by this unknown connational author nicknamed Yupa, in it's first and onlymapping effort, the level is sets in a small dungeon structure underground where you are imprisoned in, escape from the place while progressing upwards to the surface and the freedom, the map is short but fun and challenging in some areas, the best parts are some great lighting and little detailing work, including arches and oval small windows, as well as some really good sense of room construction and progression. The only low points are some stuck monsters and the stock "Running from evil" track that doesn't really fit with the map theme. Just do IDMUS 18 and it's much better. Overall, a pretty good map that could be remain unknown until found it randomly today, fun stuff. Stopping here for today, bye! 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 25, 2023 Brick | 1 wad | 6 maps I'm going to keep counting wads and maps, it's fun for me to keep track of how much I'm going through. I might go back to old Adventures and count my lifetime total, on a day when I feel like it. Barnum and Barons (2021) by Linda (GZDoom HNTR) This is pretty trippy, and until the last map mostly in a fun way. The circus aesthetic is well done not just with the texture choices (all very colourful) but also with the architecture, and good use of ZDoom 3D bridges and portals. It really feels like an adventure in a circus that has gone to hell, quite literally in places as you walk over rivers of lava (and yes, there are lots of barons). There's also obviously a ton of circus-related doomcute everywhere. I like the thematic progression, you start way outside, go through the entrance (the imps get annoyed when they notice you don't have a ticket) and hang around the carnival, get into the big top, go through the backstages and find your way the top, and eventually end back at the entrance and get into the arena. MAP01 even has a secret exit to an older version of the map, which is not as bad as Linda says. I was really enjoying myself at first, but there's no difficulty balancing and by the time I got to MAP04 things got way too hard for me. The wad also starts getting progressively meaner, it plays fair initially but again on MAP04 there are inescapable damaging floors, troll secrets, waves of enemies and very tricky ambushes, I ended up cheating through those. The finale happens in the main arena (which does look very cool) against all of the heavies (except SM), with archviles reviving everything that isn't a cyberdemon, followed by a wave of teleporting chaingunners, and I'm not entirely sure what causes the win condition because the map just ended at one point. Turns out there's a secret teleporter much earlier in the map, and that one puts you into the secret MAP06. Linda again told me I wasn't going to like it, and unfortunately this time she was right. It's a pretty unusual wad overall, with some creative ideas and an original theme, and I did enjoy most of it. I don't know if @LindaIsHere is still here but I wish her well. Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted January 25, 2023 Year 2 Month 02 Day 12 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] The Hangars by Jonathan Masseo (1995) Spoiler Quote You've just entered the bases hangars. It's going to be long and hard to complete your mission. Finish the brains of the organization. You don't know how long it will take, but you'll sure wreak havoc on your way through. "It's going to be long and hard to complete your mission", rofl what, this level is so short you can uv-max it in less than 2 minutes without foreknowledge. This level contains 3 keys scattered among the interconnected concrete hangars and the author placed night visions goggles and an invulnerability sphere in case you don't want to struggle against the darkness and the few enemies. The biggest flaw of this map is the fact it holds too much its name : the layout consists to a bunch of huge bland square rooms which look more like .... a hangar than the hangar level from Ultimate Doom for instance. Real life's hangars were never supposed to be sexy afterall. It's a fun small map to go through though, despite the rudimentary visuals and its minimal lifespan. Grade : C+ [2] neg_!ke's 1024 Map for Doom II by neg!ke (2010) Spoiler Quote small base-style map created for a 1024*1024 contest at doomworld in mid-2006. i didn't expect trying to max out gameplay within a 1024*1024 square was that difficult. i didn't solve it the most clever way, but at least there's some eye candy. unfortunately, i spotted the 1024 competition thread only two days before the deadline, so i could only contribute this one map (of which some areas are fairly rushed because of running out of time). still, it was fun... [this is a slightly newer version than the one originally submitted, fixing a compatibility issue with prboom and a few cosmetical flaws] ne_!ke's submission was made in 2005 and takes place in a compact tech base which doesn't empeach it to contain a lot of details to the point that ugly homs render everywhere in the map. However, if you're not a purist as me, you'll just notice how ng_!ke negociates well with the stock resources. Despite its size, I love how you have to cross the map via a fleshy moat filled with demons. Beside that, the level features several doors and lifts such as traditional tech base map. It has fairly generic combats, whereas being enjoyable which don't leave a big mark. The author didn't try to revolution doom mapping but it could have been a finely detailed early map for a 1024's themed megawad. Grade : B [3] Race.WAD by Eric Spain (1997) Spoiler Quote Small level which when in multiplayer mode is a race to the finish to avoid being crushed!. The whole level turns to a crusher when you pass the finish. Race.wad would be an idea for a racing game which would take place in the backrooms so much it's bland and monotextured. In order to reach the "finish switch", you have to battle against some shotgunners and few useless cyberdemons which have no purpose other than being crushed because the rocky wall prevent the rockets to reach you. So if you don't want to lose a friend , here's an advice : - Don't launch this map. If you want to play a real racing game : - Go outside - Buy and play mario kart - Launch Dystopia 3's map 03 if you want to stay in the doom's universe. Grade : D [4] Redeye.wad by Ernest P. Smith (1995) Spoiler Quote fast moving death match -cool sounds A deathmatch map with no specific theme where each area has a different dominant color. It has a a lot of pointless ugly fake walls. It's true that you don't have to follow "level design rules" in order to create a great map , but that's pure garbage here. The new gun sound is cool but overused among the 90's wads. [5] Zman Deathmatch Collection One by Josh Straub (1995) Spoiler Quote This is a concatenation of some of the Best dm wads, and i have tested a LOT (i'd say about 500). These are all smaller ones for CONSTANT ACTION small enough for 2 player, but not cramped for 4 player. I just hate playing a collection and coming to these humongus levels where it takes hours to find each other. You wont find any large-marge type ones in here. There arent any super secret hiding spots (well, ok there is ONE ;) that usually wreck the game, as i hate those. There are some great new sounds and about half of the songs are replaced. The only ones without new songs are the ones with decent doom2.wad music. The sounds were put in for change of pace, and some humor (you'll see when you pick up a sphere :) 7 beautifully crafted old classic DM maps with some custom music and a lot of "new" sfx in order to add more goofyness I guess. The sad thing about those maps is that they will never be played except if you're one of the few multiplayer nerds still playing this dated game. [6] Escape from Prison by Philip Renshaw (2001) Spoiler Quote The Story is simple; You are captured and sentenced to death for crimes against demons and all things evil. As you stand in front of the firing squad a Former Human comes up to you and gloats. In a flash of an eye you take his gun off him and while he is still shocked you shoot him straight through the heart, you turn around seeing the members of the firing squad quickly getting their guns ready, you take aim............ A gloomy prison level where bricks and metal are omnipresent. Your goal is simple : find the 3 colored keys in order to escape. Each key triggers a mean trap which could kill the most unaware ! Without a surprise, the beginning of the map represents more a chore than a real challenge, killing midtiers and especially hell nobles will only give wrists tendonitis. However, once you see the yellow key glowing in the darkness, the game become more interesting. As the other traps, collecting the key opens several monster closets which quickly flood the zone with enemies. I almost got killed between a baron and a pinkie. ouch. Of course, if your first reflex is to flee, surviving in all traps will not a big deal. In brief, I don't have a lot to say about this map. I like the theme despite the monotony. A super shotgun would not have been too much in order to get rid of the midtiers but I found the traps pretty well designed. Grade : C+ [7] STRiNGHOLD by Ismaele (Alberto Sposito) @Ismaele (2010) Spoiler Quote Just a mock .WAD! A silly jokemap I already played during Month 8 Day 14. The first time I finished this map by killing only Tormentor's haters, caricatured by a small army of imps. This time, I also killed the tormentor's followers, represented by a mighty cyberdemon and vicious arch-viles. It wasn't a hard task thanks to the BFG and the Megasphere. This map definitely didn't age well at all. If you're still an absolute Tormentor fanboy, maybe you should be portrayed as an imp. So... I want to raise a bit the grade (E+ to D-) because this map didn't attempt to kill me as a terry wad would do. Grade : D- [8] The End Complete by psychoskylark, Sabotage (1995) Spoiler Quote DeathMatch Level, lots of traps, and a few hidden rooms An another pointless deathmatch wad which will help inflating my score on Er/iwa. [9] The Chop by Me (1996) Spoiler Quote A PWAD for DOOM II. No , this level was not made by me because I wasn't even born in 1996 ! The Chop is the kind of place you absolute don't want to revisit anymore : no height variation, ugly texturing and the rooms are connected in one the most hideous way you could imagine. For unknown reasons, the author drew some crates across the whole map. They don't serve any purpose since the level doesn't have the shape of a warehouse. Gaemplay-wise, I like the use of some roaming cyberdemons but you can fool them by locking them in dead-end such as the starting area. I struggled more getting rid of the stuck Mastermind blocking my way. It's a stupid yet playable at least map. Press one of the numerous exit switches and don't go back. Grade : D- [10] BlueGuy by Paul Simpson (1995) Spoiler Quote blueguy.zip contains the files required to make all four players in coop and deathmatch games look the same. A completely fair matchup, of course, you will not know which player you are up against while you fight, but when a player gets fragged (s)he changes color, so that you can see your handy work on the floor. :) And I got killed in Sister13.wad after desperatingly looking for health in a huge bizarre room full of enemies Spoiler 4 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 25, 2023 TheChase for DOOM ][ Deathmatch (1995) by David Dworman (Eternity) A very simple and circular sort of deathmatch map that should've probably been a touch more generous with the supplies. The star-shaped outer brick rooms are rather amusing and honestly, I can see how the little corridor leading from here is only one way. Not entirely sold on the series of rectangular center rooms with the lava in the center though because it's easy to imagine movement being a little annoying here 3.5/10 After getting Atmospheric Substation yet again within mere weeks of having got it before (there's literally nothing about it that warrants a replay, like at all), I rolled again and got ALTAR (1996) by Julian Gu "Gu Quan" (Eternity) Unfortunately, maps from the Far East during the 90s automatically tend to signify a lack of quality. This one isn't too different. Not in the aesthetic sense so much - this little square layout has some very nice use of height along with three differently-textures buildings for one to mess around with. But getting stuck in these pits isn't fun, staying out of them is really more difficult than it should be, and worst is all the good health power-ups being placed in the pit with weapon placement being probably a little bit more convoluted than it needs to be. In the visual sense, this is still strong, and could even have worked out if item placement was just a little bit more thoughtful and the pits were probably half the size they are here 3/10. Spoiler Spoiler 0 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 26, 2023 Brick | 2 wads | 2 maps Adventure total | 3 wads | 8 maps JAX03 (1996) by Glenn Jackson (GZDoom) I might've been a bit more forgiving of this one, but the txt has an air of self-importance that grated. The map has the feel of one of those "let's throw a BFG, tons of cells, revenant turrets, archviles and cyberdemons all together and call it a day" maps. The real joke perhaps is that, despite all the posturing about how difficult it is and how much a "normal" (quotation marks in the text) person like me would have his butt kicked, my map completion time was 10 seconds on my second try. I wasn't too keen on going back and trying to max it, not with how many cyberdemons are roaming the ground floor, with revenant turrets so high you can't see them but their projectiles (which you often can't see either) homing on you from above. The architecture is blocky and completely unremarkable. Glenn has uploaded 3 other wads in this Jax "series" and nothing else, but I'm not sure I'm interested in trying the others out. Pepsi Apocalypse (2017) by mArt1And00m3r11339 (GZDoom) Another huge disappointment, I was with Walter that this sounded hilarious, but the actual map has nothing to do with Pepsi. I mean sure, there's "a lot of red, gray, and blue", but don't expect anything very creative in architecture, each of the 3 textures is used uniformly over vast distances, and calling this "soda-themed" is really pushing it. The first part is running in a rectangle around the central structure against ~2000 imps and a bunch of archviles with nothing but the RL. There are 3 keys scattered around the circumference, which all together open the centre and unleash a hundred or so revenants, cacos and PEs, several archvile turrets with virtually no cover, and around 5000 nobles (no, I'm not kidding). All you need to do is push the 2 switches east and west, but I'm not sure you can do this without killing all the archviles, and I'm not sure you can do that without going through most of the nobles. Pushing both switches unleashes a hundred or so archviles to revive everything and send you flying to who knows where while you wait several minutes for the exit to appear. I'm sure there are those who will enjoy this kind of extreme challenge, but I can't help feeling cheated by the title and description. It doesn't help that the mapper whose name I won't even try to type properly has dozens of similarly food-related wads on the archives, and for all I know they are all as related to their stated theme as this one. At some point the wads take a decidedly overt political tone, and while I try to keep an open mind, the texts get so stupid I felt embarrassed just reading them. The screenshot of the carnage looks pretty cool though, IMO. Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
Cacodemon187 Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) compound2 by Charlie Bolinger - December 20th, 1997 - complevel 2 Played on Crispy Doom, UV 100% "An unassuming cabin hides some very dark secrets underground...!" Or, well, that's the description I would've given it had I uploaded it to the archives. The actual description simply reads "What? Kill everything!!". The map starts you off facing the 'unassuming cabin' with some imps and zombies guarding the perimeter next to explosive barrels, which make this first skirmish the most fun fight of the map! Sounds like a bad omen on paper, but the rest really isn't too terrible. It's mostly just room after room of shooting midtiers with the super shotgun or the rocket launcher (or the plasma rifle if you're an avid secret hunter!). The cabin has some cute details inside such as kitchen sinks, a dining room, a bathtub, nazi barracks, the usual. And with nazi barracks I mean there's a single SS in the barracks sharing a small closet with a Cacodemon. Eventually though, you find your way to a lift that reveals to you the 'dark secrets underground' that I mentioned earlier. Storage areas, nukage pools, dissection tables, the theme completely changes from urban to techbase. It's actually pretty cool to see a map this old attempt some kind of thematical evolution throughout a single map! My favourite area has to be the stone tower overlooking the sea. It's very simple in terms of geometry and gameplay design, but the coolest detail of all is the attempt to create some kind of horizon line on the sea using the blue tech texture. Given that most computers at that time ran Doom on a low 320x200 resolution, this illusion probably worked a lot better back then. I like the simple and cute aesthetic of old maps like this one. Gameplay-wise, this map really doesn't stand out at all. As I said earlier, it's mostly you, your SSG and a dozen of midtiers. It doesn't get tedious though, because the map isn't really centered around the combat or layout design and doesn't force the bad design decisions down your throat. The way I see it, it's a simple map with a couple cute details that the author simply made for the sake of creating something, whatever came to their minds, which is something that I always appreciate about random 90's maps. Spoiler PS: The author credits literally everyone for this map. You're welcome, Charlie! Glad I could help :) 3 Share this post Link to post
sandwedge Posted January 27, 2023 I want to give everyone a nice big, brown hug. 1 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted January 27, 2023 Year 2 Month 02 Day 13 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] FUN1.WAD (1995) Spoiler Quote FUN1.WAD is a simple, symmetrical level for DOOM ][, map 01. I have written it to experience some specials, such as hidden walls. I needed about 3-4 days of work, some coffee & about 30 cigarettes to write it. At the beginning, you have to find the BLUE KEY & the YELLOW KEY. These open the doors to the hi-tech weapons (You'll only have the 2 shotguns & the chaingun at this time). You'll find the RED KEY at the east end of the map. You'll need it to enter the exit zone. It's a level with much teleporters (not TOO many, you don't NEED to use all of them) and many switches, also hidden ones. I think the teleporters are helpful if your DeathMatch opponent(s) is/are behind you, so I defined about 17 in this level. Some switches open hidden doors that free monsters, but you'll have to push them in order to find the one you need. You'll find the Computer Map somewhere. Just take a look at it before you exit - there are some secret rooms. I think you don't need more hints... This unthemed underground level, whereas being classified as a DM one, can be perfectly played on singleplayer. It has a lot of small enemies packed in tight corridors and ledges. The symmetry artificially adds exploration in this map but there's absolutely no visually worthy places to visit anyway. It has lot of hidden doors , so as usual, check your automap often ! At one point, you reach a room where it's written "The End" with arachnotrons populating it. However, it's not the end but it hosts the red key which unlocks a very irritating maze built with invisible impassable linedefs leading to the exit. The file's name doesn't lie though, I enjoyed blasting helpless enemies after grabbing the god sent Megasphere and SSG but it's a mediocre level overall. Grade : C [2] El Diablo by Eric Snell (1996) Spoiler Quote Play it and see! This map seemed to have some interesting visual settings at first impression but I progressively realised it was wasted by dumb level design decisions. The author scares you at the right beginning with the spawn point located on elevated rocks surrounded by a seemingly deadly ravine. Moreover, several chaingunners turn their back to you, ready to perforate you if you shoot one single bullet. However, just leave the platform and hit the deep of the dry ravine, in order to kill each monster in total safety. Once you got the yellow key , you've to decelate hidden doors and lifts in order to get the red's one but the worst comes next. The biggest challenge resides in the square room randomly filled with zombies and nazis, a spider mastermind and cyberdemon. Woah. Once, you survive this "epic" fight, the author rewards with a useless room paying tribute to Hiler with a lot of goodies in it, just before the exit. This room can be useful when replaying the map, in order to clear the room more quickly, but who will love this map enough to play it again? Grade : D+ [3] DXF2WAD v1.0 by Tim Dedischew (1995) Quote DXF2WAD is a simple program to read entities of type LINE, ARC, and CIRCLE from a DXF file and create the appropriate vertices and linedefs in a wad file. CIRCLEs and ARCs are converted to polygon/polygon segments. Supports level formats for Doom, Doom II, and Heretic. Useless to say that this old editing software is totally outdated nowadays... [4] Hellpost by Owen (1995) Spoiler Quote See for your self! A metallic base map aimed for the second episode of Ultimate Doom almost entirely built with rusty startan textures. You start in a cross-shaped room , with 4 doors of which 3 of them require a different key. It could have been more captivating if all the areas didn't look samey because of the blatant lazy monotextruing. The gameplay remains enjoyable and the progression pretty clear for a wad of that date, but defeating barons and cacodemons with the shotgun will not entertain you for a long time. Unremarkable work. Grade: C- [5] The DOOM Hacker's Tool Kit v1.00 by Joshua Jackson (1994) Quote This is the FULL source code for my WAD hacking utilities, they include Sprite Viewing/scaling Map Viewing/scaling Floor Texture Viewing/scaling Wall Texture Viewing/Scaling SoundBlaster Sound Player WAD Directory Loading/Managing/Displaying plus I have included the full TurboVision/Pascal source for DOOM Front End v1.32. An another software which gathered the dust. I stop here for today. 3 Share this post Link to post
Cacodemon187 Posted January 27, 2023 (edited) Lava City Outskirts by @Metabolist - June 2nd, 2001 - complevel 2 Played on Crispy Doom, UV 100% Spoiler An 86-minute-speedmap by one of Hell Revealed 2's main composers, who was last active in 2002 I believe. This one's a small snack of a map. It's not really a city as the title would have you believe, though. In fact, it's just two buildings in a dark crater connected by a 3D bridge, populated by only 24 monsters. It's relatively easy thanks to the abundance of rockets and shells, which make mince meat of the dozen Hell Knights that chase you on ground level. Up on the buildings there's revenants and an Arch-Vile, plus a bunch of Imps who are not very threatening at all. Metabolist's style is very recognizable here, mostly with the use of brick textures, semi-slaughter gameplay, simple geometry and, of course, 3D bridges. As a mapping exercise it does well and provides a good 2 to 3 minutes of fun! EDIT: I just realized after writing the review... The title reads "Lava City Outskirts", so this isn't supposed to be the city itself as I stated in my review. Whoops. Edited January 27, 2023 by Cacodemon187 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 28, 2023 Brick | 2 wads | 2 maps Adventure total | 5 wads | 10 maps Hell wad pack for Doom II Hell on Earth (2005) by John Cartwright (GZDoom ITYTD) I was sure I had seen this mapper's name before, but I couldn't place it. He has about 30 wads on the archives all the way back to 1999 and seems to be still active, but the only name that sounded familiar there was The Abandoned Base, and I couldn't place that one either. In any case hellpak did not start promising. In case you're wondering, the eyesore green effect is intentional, it's set in the mapinfo, and the txt mentions playing in ZDoom, so I had it set to software initially; I quickly switched to hardware, which was still ugly but at least I could see where I was going. MAP01 starts rough, you get barons and cacos and mancubus thrown at you very early on with nothing but fists since there is so little ammo; I hope you found the berserk early on! It's hard to say much about the architecture or the aesthetics, since the Fade makes it so hard to see anything. Not long into MAP02 I ran into a swarm of revenants (this time at least with plenty of shells), and when I saw the map had over 900 monsters I gave up on the wad. Spoiler Buzzard's Delight Level 1 (1995) by Paul Busby (GZDoom HNTR) Maybe it's only by comparison with the previous 3 wads, but I found this one so much better. It has its share of flaws, including very blocky layout, and frankly not very pretty texturing. But somehow there are nice surprises, and the more I kept playing the more my opinion of the map increased. Early on the rooms are all right angles and ugly grey and flat, but later on there are staircases coiling on each other, occasional but clever use of elevation, those shuttering windows from The Focus, and some pretty fun fights. There are over 300 enemies even on HNTR but the map goes by at a brisk pace, progression relies on crossing linedefs several times but the layout of these areas is built in such a way that it's clear what is opening up. After a while I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the map. Paul only made one other wad for deathmatch; a shame he stopped mapping, considering this first effort I think he had promising potential. Spoiler 1 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted January 28, 2023 Year 2 Month 02 Day 14 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Deimos Lunar by Diana M. (2008) Spoiler Quote Zombies, demons and other enemies attacked a base in Deimos. An amateurish hellish map taking place at night or... in the middle of space considering all of planets drawn with MS-PAINT we can see in the starry sky. Despite being released in the late 00's, Deimos Lunar concentrates a lot of tropes from the 90's : unnecessary progression with fake walls and shootable switches, unchallenging difficulty due to the excess of power-ups compared to the existing threat and of course the exclusive of stock textures as well as no custom music. I like some of the settings of this map , specifically the marbled blood fountain oozing under the mysterious sky. However, it also features a lot of uninspired blocky places which translate the lack of mapping skills and inspiration of its author. However, the worst part of this map resides in its ending which is a stupid fight against IOS you have to skip by just reaching a switch located next to its head and guarded by a cyberdemon. Fortunately, the several BFG and invulnerabilty spheres prevents the ordeal. Overall, it's not a bad map but rather very dull. If no BFG or invul were available for the final boss, the grade could have been a lot worse. Grade : C [2] MechDM2.wad (Metal Death Match II: Shadow Arena) by Reviver (1999) Spoiler Quote This is a level that can handle more than 2 players, but should not be so big that a two player match gets boring. I should warn you that I use a lot of sectors and line defs to get the lighting how I wanted it to look, so have a fast modem and good Pentium processor if you are going to play over the internet. Death Match with monsters is also supported. Be sure to remember this when setting a network game. There are four Barons that appear on all skill levels. A small gloomy DM map I already visited during Month 6 Day 12. Nothing to add compared to my previous comment. As Doomkid stated on idgames , it seems more like an experiment with lighting rather than a real map. [3] SKILLS.WAD (December 1994) by Christophe Person [Tof on IRC #doom] (1994) Spoiler Quote This is an ONLY Deathmatch Wad cause there are no monsters in it. You can still play it standalone if you enjoy fragging yourself. Skills.wad take place in a coastal station which seems to be a nice place to live with its fresh grass, cozy buildings made of brown bricks and above all, the nice view on the sea ! Instead of that, Christophe decided to turn it into a war zone. It's a beautiful early doom 2 map considering its age. I stop here for today 2 Share this post Link to post
DrRock Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) BID 2 by Serious_MOod (2016, PrBoom-Plus) played in Zdoom 2.8.1 on Ultra-Violence Spoiler A pretty nice Map 01 replacement with a techbase/cavern theme. You'll mostly see browns and greys, contrasted with a blue night sky. The combat here is based around the regular old shotgun and the chaingun, though cunning players can find themselves a secret SSG early on. Due to the author's weapon choice you won't ever run into monster encounters that are too wild, but still challenging enough that players won't be able to simply sleepwalk through them. The map is more or less divided into two thematic parts which can be explored somewhat freely, both of them nicely crafted. It took me about 18 minutes to finish this, so the playtime is by no means insubstantial. There is even a cute little ending scene for those who manage to finish the map. Worth a look for Doomers of all skill levels. Edited January 28, 2023 by DrRock 2 Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted January 28, 2023 Walter|2 Wad|9 maps Total= 4 wads|25 maps Spectre Deathmatch Levels by fUnKyMoNk; aka Steve Noonan - Vanilla Doom 2, DM, 1997, played with zandronum 3.1 and bots Spoiler I really wonder why this mapset is not that famous as Exec or Brit series and i knew about it only finding it randomly today, is aseries of small\medium maps with frenetic gameplay, fun layout and with a much more modern look and feel than the year it was made, but it's not all golden what you see, because it have some questionable choices like spawn slightly far from weapon, weird sounds replacement and multiple player spawns inside one (or the lack of them?), but despite this it's still a pretty fun experience even with bots, i wonder how this will be with real players! Short summary of all maps, over the one by the author in description (very kind from the author): MAP01: A medium sized, kinda Dwango\Greenwar-ish in style, lots of areas that can be easily reachable trough the various corridors and shortcuts in the map, pretty fun! I liked the secret BFG "trap", that if you're not fast enough to take it, you'll be locked into a damaging floor prison of sorts. I used a similar trick of having a damaging "no exit" situation also in one my maps, The Ultimate TWANGO E3M9 road to the BFG spawn. MAP02: Pretty small, boxy arena with spammy guns and frenetic gameplay. Blast and be blasted by SSGs and BFG here! Layout reminded me of some other map I've played some time ago, Deathmatch Revival maybe? I wonder what is the music track used here, it gives a fast, frenetic feel to the map! MAP03: A weird level with some interesting choices like a cheesy Megadeth midi, invisible floor, some more verticality in it and a fun layout overall, despite feeling a little slow sometimes. Liked also the hybrid nature of the map theme here, including wolfestein, wooden and techbase areas. MAP04: Another small fast-paced and frenetic map here, with a better and more diverse layout that adds more verticality than MAP02, this level it could be great dun with real players! The best map in the pack. MAP05: Another weirdo with four rooms with strange sector art in it all connected by rocky tunnels and with a center area with another sector art and a SSG in the center of all. 'kay. MAP06: A map with good visuals (especially the window arches) but not a stellar gameplay, unluckily. MAP07: Another small, frenetic map with the weird decision of putting a SSG and a rocket over switched lowering pillars, but the more spammy gun (BFG) is put as a normal gun that is even more easily reachable than the shotgun that is literally UP the BFG. Ok... sure 90s are wild times, aren't them? MAP08: Last map, even bots doesn't want to navigate in this place because they literally lock in place in the middle of corridors wide enough for 30000000000 players! Ok, the corridor aren't THAT wide, but this is a weird bug. However, this is a map with a interesting theme of... whatever theme is this, let's put as the author wrote in description "a very blue level". No, it's not really that blue, but let's accept this description... Yeah, i was saying this map have a pretty interesting and instant floor raising\lowering effects that is pretty cool, too bad that in reality this is pretty clunky in map navigability as well as a dead lift, why it's here? What is the meaning of this? However, a nice map with a neat theme. Twilight Descends by Samuel Villareal @Kaiser and Midway, Inc. - Limit removing ports, Doom 2, SP, 2002, played with eternity "forseti" 4.0.2 Spoiler A recreation of the PSX exclusive Doom map with the same title, is a map that will fits perfectly also with the original Doom 2 map rooster, maybe inside of the city maps or one of the early maps in Hell episode, imagine playing this instead of, let's say, MAP12 or MAP21 in original Doom 2... sure things will be more different than what we've got in 1994, isn't? Also, the crate "maze" section feels pretty Doom 64-ish design wise, i liked it! I have to check the wiki to see who made this map... Anyway, this a charming looking space station invaded by hellish fortress surrounded by nuclear waste and imposing canyons surrounding it, shoots lots of monsters, solve puzzles, find keys in this pretty enjoyable map! Includes as well some kind semi-realistic mine made of... wood panels? What? Also, this section contains one of the part i liked the least, a trippy lights wooden cavern with some obscure American MCGee activable secret that lowers some lifts some lift somewhere... where specifically it's unknown. But, again, a very good and fun map that makes Midway going to "The Way ID Did" route before it was even mainstream. 3 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) ZelDoom (splitted version) (1997) by Thomas and Denton (GZDoom) Quote zelstuff.wad A sword for the chainsaw, a sling for the pistol, magic hands for the shotgun(s), a comic weapon for the plasma gun, a boxing glove for the fist and a comic knight replaces the pink demon. The status bar face is now a nice heart. zellev.wad A demo level with new graphics on the walls and floors. There is no chaingun in it, so there is no honest way to get it. Are you honest? Uploaded and converted to a more modern foramt by Fun Duke, this serves as a sort of a test for a conversion that was apparently planned by the terrible two (they seriously sound like a comedy duo, really) that besides the majority of the weapons and a few texture replacements, never really got off the ground. The commitment to the aesthetic must be admired, but it's clear that it was never finished. The very brevity of the demo map suggests that map design was considerably harder for the pair than sprite replacements. Speaking of which, the sound effects, though appropriate to Link to the Past, are a little bit too plonky for a shooting game. I don't know if this could've worked out Spoiler Operation Eisenmann (1997) by Laz Rojaz (Eternity) I won't bother listing the plot here because to be brutally honest, I can't stand the Wolfendoom sets. They are boring, tedious, overlong, and are the worst example of 90's mapping tendencies brought to the form. This was the case even through the unfinished Operation Rheingold. And is certainly the case here. Why are we fighting Dr. Schabbs again exactly? While there's some decent texture usage, it's really not any better than a contemporary wad like Eternal Doom and worst, lacks the intrigue of that wad. 2/10, an anti-recommendation, if you will. Spoiler The Ruin (1997) by The Watcher (Eternity) I decided to play this with ZelDoom because it seemed rather appropriate and the test map was garbage anyway. Despite having multiple and distinct areas leading off from a central room, none of them are particularly attractive, and while there are some serious attempts to create a sense of place (the docks at the opposite end from the player 1 start, for instance) it ultimately feels poorly executed and ultimately not really fun for deathmatch 3/10 Spoiler Spoiler 2 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) Brick | 2 wads | 2 maps Adventure total | 7 wads | 12 maps Meek (2007) by Chris Hansen @Chris Hansen is a fixture of Doom mapping, delivering non-stop quality wads for the past 25 years, and apparently still at it. This one is from the middle-period and very typical, very much in the "CH retro" style. It's a techbase that could've easily fit into the original E1 lineup, except with Chris's own brand of little tricks and visual touches, almost "DTWID but Chris was part of the id team". No doomcute here, the layout and architecture are abstract, but there's still some cool and linedef-efficient detailing, some very nice lighting (in a similar style to his buddy Pcorf). I like Doom I, and don't mind the absence of Doom II additions (SSG and enemies) as much as some, and so greatly enjoyed the map. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing super new, just good clean fun in a high quality vanilla E1-style map. Spoiler Arachna 2 (1995) by Bjorn Hermans & Holger Nathrath This one's from the duo that brought us the Serenity trilogy, except with the roles reversed (this time Bjorn is primary mapper and Holger is testing/editing). There are 2 versions, for Doom I and Doom II, but I rolled the latter. As far as I can tell the layout is exactly the same, but this one has the SSG and a few sequel enemies, namely knights, chaingunners and mancubi. It's not particularly difficult but is fun to play, with some pretty good looking architecture, some nice lighting in parts, and the combat is quite fun, if a bit on the easy side (but then, the community skill level was note where it is now). Actually I think that, visually, it's really quite amazing for its time, there's a lot of care put into the architecture, the texture selection is simple but makes great use of contrasting colours, and there's some very nice sector art (the titular spider of course, but I also really liked the marble "arches"). It definitely defies the stereotype of the 90s map, and while the progression made me scratch my head a couple of times I never got stuck, and the map is not very long. Good stuff. Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted January 29, 2023 Year 2 Month 02 Day 15 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Deathmatch Cathedral (Doom II) by nicholas r. spampata (1995) Spoiler Quote hellch.wad modified for Doom II. Despite being perfectly playable on singleplayer, the shortness of this map, its name, and the very low number of foes proves without a doubt that it's primarly designed for Deathmatch. This gloomy bloody hellish map replaces the 23th slot and I appreciate the aesthetics overall. However, the stock midi doesn't fit at all and ruin the mysteriousness of the place. Anyway, I think it's decent work for an early 1995 map but unfortunately too unsubstantial to be worth playing. Grade : C (From a singleplayer perspective) [2] The Zodiac Deathmach, Music wad by @Milian (2006) Quote This wad contains the music for my Deathmatch wad "The Zodiac Deathmatch" (zodiac2e.wad). By loading it along with zodiac2e.wad, the MIDI-music will be replaced by arranged versions. A separate music wad for a DM wad where the gimmick consisted to make a map for each zodiac sign. The file is pretty heavy considering all tracks belong to the ogg format. Each track borrows an electronic style, focusing both on rhythm and atmosphere. Most of the music is pleasant to hear and provides a certain serenity, as if we were in a kind of temple. I wonder if the author composed them or he took from the Internet. He didn't indicate the source of those melodies. I stop here for today. 1 Share this post Link to post
Biodegradable Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) Clockwork 70 (2017) Found an awesome Quake-inspired map by the incomparable @pcorf. It's really fucking tight on ammo, but still great fun and still beatable if you're gutsy enough to chainsaw a Archvile because you couldn't figure out the rocket launcher secret. Simple, elegant and a tough nut to crack. A must-play for Pcorf fans. ;^) Edited January 30, 2023 by Biodegradable 3 Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted January 29, 2023 Walter|2 wads|2 maps Total=7 wads|27 maps JAX03.WAD by Glenn Jackson - Vanilla Doom 2, SP, 1996, played with Eternity "forseti" 4.0.2 Spoiler A ancient example of a small arena slaughtermap with lots of revenants and cyberdemons as well as some arch-viles to burning down the night afternoon, lets say it's a ancient version of micro slaughter concept since the map can be easily beaten in 6/7 minutes on HMP being counter-balanced from the strong generosity in the ammo\health placement. Feels like a amateurish, rejected map from the Master Levels. The text file description is.. pretty bizarre, is this a psychologist that goes hard on been high on psych pharms? What the shit is going on here? Overall, a basic effort, kinda fun. Ultimate Torment & Torture Invasion by Daniel @Tormentor667 Gimmer - Skulltag, Doom 2, SP, 2007, played with zandronum 3.1 + skulltag_data.pk3 3.0 Spoiler I'm kinda disappointed by this mapset since Torm (with all the troubles and "scandals" he's involved in the community) is a pretty talented mapper, but this mapset is HORRIBLE, it's been so long that i didn't played such a boring mapset! Yeah, it's that bad for me. It's based upon a gameplay modification that never completely got me (invasion mode, it's a wave based series of slaughtermaps that start extremely easily and then slowly turns harder and harder) but it's overall a interesting gameplay gimmick and it's rare to see this kind of maps. MAP01 is a neat level sets in a canyon place where more of the canyon appears wave after wave, fun stuuf but after the 8th wave i get bored and jumped to MAP02 and... Oh sweet child Jesus, what is this thing? Is this really the same author of the previous map? The map is set in this rusty, foggy and genuinely ugly looking steel processing place where everything is just slopes, cages and room-to-room most boring fights i'd had the displeasure to get into. After 4 waves i just think "Fuck this" and exited the wad. Avoid this. 2 Share this post Link to post
SuyaSSS Posted January 29, 2023 SuyaSS|1 wad|1 map Shalom, welcome or farewell? -- Doom ][ -Elliott Pacetti (1999) Woof, Ultra Violence Quote YOU FUCKING BITCH!! -My actual response after finding out that the exit is hidden behind a differently textured wall I have recorded this map however due to some problems in the second video which makes it lag so hard that it is barely watchable I have chosen not to upload the video and rather write a review of the map with some screenshots along the way. (Like how I used to) Let's start from the beginning. By beginning I don't mean the beginning of the map but the first thing you see before downloading this map. The /idgames page. Specifically, it's description section is what I want to turn all your heads towards. This is something I have noticed a lot. Most maps from the 90s have a long story behind them (atleast compared to nowadays). Nowadays, the story is mostly "YA KILL STUFF!" (of which I have no problem of considering the original id guys also did not care that much for the story as well.) Anyways, the thing I felt is that the story took more time to write than the map. The map is quite frankly "not good" The map starts with a shotgunner and few zombieman but the bulshittiness lies in the fact that these sectors are crushers. Thankfully, this is the beginning of the map or I would've. But the thing that caught me offguard is that the other sectors except for the one with the misaligned wall are also crushers and they lower only after you walked on the linedef before the sector. Did I mention that you have to also pass a linedef for a floor to lower and you to progress? Thankfully, that was the first linedef I crossed so I wasn't met with the confusion. The texturing is ugly, even in an abstract way (and I am a sucker for abstract aesthetics.) Also, through this map, I just found out that a shotgun can also gets crushed. Then, there is a short cave area filled with pinkies and spectres which is basically just a path to the next room. The big and main room. It has 1 Cyberdemon and 1 Spider Mastermind. And, you would think that this fight would be epic but all that it is, is a sad disappointment. You have to rush to the soulsphere, avoid the rockets and wait for the cyberdemon and the mastermind to infight. This just wasn't very fun. Not even super frustrating or anything (Ok, I admit that I died a few times to the cyberdemon's rocket and the spider mastermind's chaingun) but I guess the mastermind is just not fun to fight. Alternatively, just grab the BFG and send the mastermind back to hell. Then you have to go to another "cave" where you will see a familiar sight. The Exit door!! You go inside and see a button. You press it and................................................................................................................................... You get fucking crushed. WHY?????????????? I then had to find where the exit is and it turns out Spoiler (yeah, sadly, I am not going to play the map again to get a better screenshot) There, the wall where my crosshair is. That is where the exit is hidden. Did I tell you that my last word of the recording was Quote YOU FUCKING BITCH!! This map despite having everything I love (Abstract aesthetic, caves, big arenas for fighting) manages to make an experience that I never want to visit ever again. An obvious F. 2 Share this post Link to post
DrRock Posted January 29, 2023 Caged by Crono (Vanilla, 2004) – Doom II played in Zdoom 2.8.1 on Ultra-Violence Spoiler A tiny little map that is the author's first foray into mapping. Quite the simplistic offering with little more than 40 foes to dispatch and very basic architecture. Starts out with a marble environment before switching to a much nicer looking outside-ish area with overgrown vines. The only notable monster placement here is the Cacodemon swarm lorded over by Cyberdemon in the second half, which can snipe at you but can also be safely ignored. This is over in a few minutes and all around inoffensive. Rule the world! by Malcolm Sailor (Vanilla, 1995) – Doom II played in Zdoom 2.8.1 on Ultra-Violence Spoiler A familiar name, Malcolm Sailor is likely best known to people for his CHORD series of finely crafted maps. RULER.WAD is dated a bit earlier and nowhere near as inspired as his later works. The monster count is almost the same as the previously reviewed WAD, but shows more teeth on account of more interesting architecture and much beefier opposition. It's a linear trek through three sections which includes, of all things, a fun-sized homage to the cavern section of Doom II's Map21 and a boss shooter challenge at the very end. This too is a short affair, but not a bad one. RULER.WAD is decidedly more competent than most of it's contemporaries. 4 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 30, 2023 MacroTemple (2014) by CyberArch and J12Gc (GZDoom) This is one of those tight and cramped corridor maps that's very exacting with the ammo distribution, clearly channeling something out of Agent Spork but without the latter's masterful command of atmosphere, despite the use of a TNT track. Yes, the custom texturing is undoubtably quite nice and the custom varieties of the Imps and Hell Knights does add some tension, but the fact remains players will basically move from square room to square room, probably saving because of how much a pain it is to do something like this multiple times. There is one sequence where you view a camera and hit a switch where a pair of Imps and a Mancubus appear in front if you that's quite tense, but the final sort of outdoor arena temple manages to prove quite lifeless indeed. Lots of gunning down of Hell Knights but without quite the rockets to compensate, it's expected to run inside the far sheds to grab some rockets, but this is extremely tedious. The one Arch-vile here is teleported to the far end and thusly proves to be so worthless and throwaway that it might as well not even be here. If the Cyberdemon is seriously expected to kill many of these Hell Knights, sorry but there's not quite enough of them for that. The map concludes with a fight against a souped-up Cyberdemon that there's basically zero ammo for in all likelihhood and once he dies, the core in the center of the last and admittedly cool arena blows up and the map ends. There are reasons Agent Spork never went full slaughter for a significant portion of her maps and that's because that would require more ammo to be laid down unless you end up with the infight-dependent BS of the last arena. 3.5/10, nice visuals and I guess not half-bad attempt at a map of a certain style but somehow still falls flat on its face. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) Brick | 1 wad | 9 maps Adventure total | 8 wads | 21 maps Kansam's Trial (1997) by Kansam & Doug the Eagle what the hell did I just play Most Doomers will know Kansam and Doug from the very controversial The Sky May Be. I don't know what came first, but that wad escaped my attention for a very long time, and so for a couple of decades I only knew Doug through his extensive anti-walkthroughs, especially those for Ultima and System Shock (many others got added over later years). Kansam's Trial was started in 1994, which places its earliest work as even older than SMB. It was initially started by Kansam, who made the first 4 levels and released them as kansam4.wad. He then started on E2M5 and almost completed it before abandoning the project; Doug finished that map, then added 4 more and released the complete kansam9.wad in 1997. The version currently on idgames was uploaded years later by SargeBaldy, who removed all custom sounds (and found them "annoying"). The sounds are a weirdness on their own; they're clips from various movies/shows including Monty Python, Zardoz for weapon pickups (no, it doesn't have the second part), Goldeneye for powerups (Alan Cumming's "I am invincible!" is very appropriate), and who knows what else. Zombies, cacos and barons are extremely chatty now. Lost Souls scream "Don't tell me what to do!" as they charge. Imps greet you with "hello how's the family", which I found much creepier than the original when they surprise-ambushed me. I'm probably in the minority but I think it's worth getting the unaltered version (it's on Doug's website, linked in the wiki). First, let's get one thing out of the way: if you need good aesthetics out of your Doom, look elsewhere. I don't find the visuals to necessarily be ugly, but it's obvious that this was not an important consideration for either mapper, and little to no effort is spent on detailing. Even when there's doomcute, it's quite basic. That's not to say the levels are plain or boring; far from it, there are some clever uses of vanilla tricks to create special effects, but most of these are there more for gameplay reasons than for looks. This made it very hard to take screenshots: most of the clever stuff you can't even see in a static image. Even when the layouts are impressive, it's again something you experience in the gameplay, not that can be seen in visual architecture. Speaking of gameplay, it is also highly unusual. Most maps are puzzle boxes that can be tough to crack. The puzzles are closer to John Landis than Jim Flynn, lacking the latter's visual flair, and with a hefty dose of the former's propensity for crushers and other delightful traps, but ultimately the wad has a style of its own. The main path can be tricky, and I got stuck many times for varying amounts of time, but nothing on the required progression felt truly unfair or bullshit. The same can't be said for the secrets; they are numerous, and some are infuriating (though these are a minority). Combat runs the whole gamut, from incidental and easy in some maps, to pretty rough in others, but it's secondary or complementary to the puzzles, and clearly not the main focus. I thought the puzzles, combat and those custom sounds worked together to create a strange and often surreal experience. The first few maps are small and not too hard, though they introduce the gameplay style well. E1M1 has a lot of passages that run around each other, with those chutes that put you back into one of the main rooms; I ended up backtracking a lot, but the small size makes it relatively painless. E2M2 has a large open area and only a few indoor rooms, so it's also relatively small (though not necessarily quick, if playing blind). E2M3 is where maps start getting larger, with many moving parts to the puzzles; the most memorable one had all the moving floors. E2M4 is compartmentalized, with each discreet section opening up something in the other (thankfully the damaging blood floor maze is much less painful than it seems). Spoiler E2M5 is where the wad seems to shift pretty radically. It's tempting to think that's because of the change in mapper, but apparently almost all the layout was already done by Kansam before Doug took over. It's a massive and sprawling citadel, much larger than any of the previous maps. Navigation is tricky because of all the passages, though there is some logic to it and it pays off to learn how each part connects to the other. There are a whopping 25 secrets (!) to be found, though I got lucky and found the one with the computer map very early on, which makes finding all the others MUCH easier. The map is less abstract, in fact it feels more like a real citadel than Doom II's own MAP19, the various little sections of the castle (library, chapel, living quarters, dining hall) all make sense, and there are some neat little touches like the crenels (which you can use against the enemies better than they can!). I spent a lot of time on it, also in part because I was trying to find the secret exit, but I found it to be a great and very enjoyable puzzle map. Spoiler E2M9, perhaps befitting the slot, is puzzle-heavy but also gimmicky and with some unique tricks, apparently a collection of small experiments Kansam was doing with vanilla mechanics, thrown together into one map. There are barrels that explode when you get close to them (clever use of crushers). The voodoo doll room has invisible linedefs that telefrag them and kill you, but there is some logic to the pattern, and once I figured it out I made it through without much trouble (the automap helps). The following crusher room is neat because the crushers are only half-visible due to intentional HOMs, but they're easy to avoid by moving slowly and not trying to rush. There's a maze where all the walls let projectiles through, so you have to avoid fireballs without seeing the imps throwing them; of course once you see a fireball you can kill the imp responsible for it if you're fast. There's a key that sits there, inviting you to pick it up, and that explodes all around you when you do, if you're not quick on your feet. I admit I really enjoyed all the gimmicks and puzzles. Spoiler The next levels are all Doug's and are less polished (by his own admission). I still had fun with the puzzle in E2M6, where I was surprised to find the exit easily and went back looking for what I had missed (the secret there was a bit underwhelming though). E2M7 is huge, needlessly so, as it's just empty space to run through in a straight line, but there's some cool bits of storytelling, like with the spaceship floating above the other side of the river that you get through (and I thought the puzzle in there was very nicely hinted). It leads seamlessly into E2M8, a cyberdemon finale that actually looks like a tower, though the fight itself is not terribly interesting. Spoiler I meant to write something much shorter... Overall the wad is a series of puzzles that are exactly the kind that I like, sometimes tough but always fair, and the small level size alleviates the problem with running around looking for a missing switch. I also really liked some of the gimmicks, they're used sparingly and each only in a single level, so they never got tedious. The replacement sounds are goofy but I found them a fun addition to the package. I had a great time playing this. A few hours later I noticed I had taken a screenshot of the ENDOOM but forgot to upload it, here it is. I think it's pretty typical of Doug's usual humour. Spoiler Edited January 31, 2023 by brick 3 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 31, 2023 (edited) Wizard's Revenge (1996) by Richard Carlson (DSDA Doom) You know....I was sort of searching and found Carlson did at least one map that was well-received. But this is nothing more than a bland and typical 90s mess of untextured doors and the requirement of having one's map on all the time so that we can actually keep track of where to go. There's one room with a pair of Iron Lichs that's impossible to get out of unless you use the wings or an Iron Lich tornado. Enemies have quite uneven distribution, to the extent that it's easy to end up dead if the player is underequipped. Not like that makes too much difference because many ammo stores are just stupidly excessive. Although there are small rooms with essentially meaningless supplies. The best part are probably the occasional little visual touches (a red pillar in a small room and the central room that laughably has every weapon but the fire mace and crossbow). Too bad the exit is stupidly obscure and also one of those places you can rush to in less than 5 seconds if one knows where it is. I didn't even mention the obligatory Maulotaur because I think that's a little expected at this point. 2/10 Spoiler Spoiler Edited January 31, 2023 by LadyMistDragon 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted January 31, 2023 Brick | 1 wad | 32 maps Adventure total | 9 wads | 53 maps Paul's Deathmatch (2011) by Paul Corfiatis @pcorf has so many wads uploaded to idgames that it's perhaps unsurprising he's the only author so far who I've rolled more than once (you know someone's made a lot of wads when the "other files by author" section just says "many"). Paul mentions it's his only deathmatch megawad, but he had also made an episode replacement back in 2001, though I'm not sure if any of the maps from there were reused or updated here or elsewhere. Since there are no monsters I thought I'd still tour each map for a couple of minutes getting a feel for how it would play. I ended up spending over an hour with the megawad. Despite being DM-only it's typical Pcorf in the usual ways: nicely detailed but without overdoing it, good use of iwad textures (with only a few additions) with some great contrasting colours, beautiful architecture in parts, and of course some gorgeous lighting (the Pcorf special). All maps looked good, but a few looked fantastic. I did not see a lot of Boom effects, though some maps have obvious ones like conveyors (Paul may have also chosen the format to have access to the all the generalized actions). It's difficult to judge DM gameplay by just looking around, but the maps left a pretty positive impression, and my uneducated guess leads me to assume this must be good fun in multiplayer. Weapons are smartly distributed around the maps, almost every one has at least one Invisibility for added mayhem, there's good use of cover and elevation, especially in maps with the more powerful weapons. Probably the best thing is the sheer variety in map style, to shake things up as you go through the rotation. Some are wide open, some are all cramped hallways, some are tiny, some are sprawling, some require dancing over ledges or avoiding the damaging floors, and one even has no weapons and just a wrestling ring with 4 berserks for total melee chaos. There are some really cool thematic highlights. MAP13 borrows the green marble and orange sky aesthetic from Paul's own Death Tormention (and of course the map is called "Deathmatch Tormention"). MAP21 has a river of fire and hopping from one floating rock to another; I'm sure the rocks spell something but I couldn't figure out what. MAP24 has some very doomcute trees (all sector art!) and a boat with linedef-flags. MAP27 is a library with great DM potential, you can run around shelves on the lower floor to catch another player, but there's also a passage above them that runs around the circumference and could allow seeing who's below, except the passage is also completely exposed. There was clearly a lot of thought put into the designs and possible scenarios. It was entertaining to tour the maps and admire the sights, but I would definitely recommend playing this for those who like deathmatch, I could be wrong but I have a feeling there's a ton of fragging fun to be had. Spoiler 4 Share this post Link to post
Clippy Posted January 31, 2023 hey guys hey - this vid will be premiering shortly - thought I would try the premiere thing @Doomkid said its cool - especially for my ID games stuff - its the only vid I put effort or edit lol - not much happened in this ep tho Firstly we found Simple Mirrored Monsters by Coldiron https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/graphics/smm4doom I will admit I didn't quite understand what this was and took way too long to figure out how to load it - cause I thought nothing was happening - but I left in the experience to show that sometimes you get files that have folders of more files and well.. it doesnt take much to confuse me I will admit - the backwards monster deaths were kind of freaky - even with the revenant but especially the Archie and Cyber - we know their death animations so well that seeing it backwards is indeed jarring but who is this for lol - well I guess if you feel like seeing monsters possibly die to the left instead of right will enhance the experience then this was is 4 u Moving on next we got Tab16 Level by Michael Contorno https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/tab/tab16 "Difficulty: Hard" another 90s map from the tab series - in my third ever IDGAMES ep 3 I drew tab 3 here I am a year later with Tab 16 I seen others pull these files from time to time here too - it seems like a common find - was hoping for something more unique hehe well I thought Tab 3 was kind of light, big clumsy areas with wide boring easy combat but this was far better - I missed the story tho How many damn tabs are there? TBH this level wasnt bad - it had some weirdness but it's always a win when I dont have to ask @Snaxalotl wtf am I doing here - got through it - janky allignments n stuff but gameplay felt classic and alright - overall I could have drew worse but still curious to see what I get next time cheers! 3 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted January 31, 2023 PDoom source code (1998) by Phill Harvey-Smith A fork of the first-ever source port for Doom, DOSDoom, with cheat codes that will kill all monsters, enable flight, and Quad Damage. No, I don't know who would create a source port running in a native operating system environment when it already runs naitively in DOS but this is a bit of a precursor to the advanced features pioneered by ZDoom. But I doubt this saw too much of an audience when Boom effectively stole the thunder of Doom source ports for at least a year or two until Legacy came along and ZDoom started manifesting its potential more. And you apparently need something called a 'compiler toolchain' to get it working. These days, Phill seems to teach mathematics with regards how it applies to computer science. Honestly, I half-expected that someone merely forking from a seemingly irrelevant port would end up in such a profession. Although DOSDoom seems to be the precursor to EDGE, which is still being developed today! I'm no source port expert though, I just know EDGE seemed less relevant in the oughts as compared to later. NOCHOICE (1995) by Nelson Laviolette (Eternity) A 90s map that isn't particularly generous with resources and starts players off between raised ledges containing barrels, Imps, and former humans is not exactly an encouraging, nor auspicious start. This map ends up proving fairly competent with the combat though and nothing too obnoxious. Too bad this map constantly switches themes dramatically and consists almost entirely of square rooms, with bone-headed key placement. None of these keys trigger traps, btw. Final room has traps on far ledges located on the left and right that easily can be avoided if you head down the middle stairs to the exit. At least this text file isn't filled with that 90s arrogance though. 3.5/10, it could be worst. Spoiler Lop2(2004) by Alex Pielange (Eternity) A slaughter map! Well, it's no TimeOfDeath and architecture manages to be bland and combined with large and squarish rooms. Yet, it's actually fun! Combat feels more refined than the proto-slaughter of the 90s which might be attributed to the file's timestamp though perhaps not. Anyways, this map pulls no punches and you'd better be ready for what it decides to throw at you. BFG spamming will mostly win the day, but it is quite trick in spots. Also, enemies are constantly teleporting into the large central area, which ends up proving a huge problem after the blue key is acquired and an Arch-vile decides to run randomly somewhere. The group of zombiemen at the ending shrine was funny for comedy purposes. It's all a little bit dumb, but this still gets a 6/10 Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
