ICID Posted March 5 (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 1. Please take screenshots or video of your adventures. 2. Commenting the source port and difficulty level is not required, but provides helpful context to your review. 3. Try to stick to no more than 1 WAD per day to avoid burnout, but this part’s all up to you, champ! 4. 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: ELEVATOR The Sewage Works GATES Dance on the Water Eviltech: Soul of Megawad Spoiler The Top 10 (out of 72): 1. @Roofi | 8655 2. @LadyMistDragon | 5400 3. @Sena | 2670 4. @Walter confetti | 2635 5. @ICID | 1940 6. @brick | 1860 7. @Endless | 1260 8. @Thelokk | 725 9. @Clippy | 610 10. @smeghammer | 425 Join the Doom Master Wadazine community for more events like this! » https://discord.gg/Q2RKn4J And check the Doom wiki for the full list of past adventures. 0 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 5 Selfish X-FORMER by @pcorf (2005) UV on DSDA I had little time for Doom today, and for once /idgames listened to my pleas... by rolling me Sunlust. -_- Now, since I had actually replayed it recently I can give a writeup if someone reeealllly wants it, but I will readily admit that I rerolled. Sue me. What I got was a little, fun single map from 2005 by pcorf, of a million megawads fame. In my mind they're pretty much "The Ultimate Doom guy", so it didn't surprise me that this Doom 2 map is, in fact, mostly an UD map. The gimmic being: at the beginning and start you visit a short brick section, but in order to get the red key you have to navigate in any order an E1 inspired sub-map, and an E2 inspired one. Both styles are well captured, and the... I think E2M6? tribute didn't elude me. Sort of disappointed that the promising stack of boxes in the E1 section didn't lead to a secret. Combat was fairly relaxed, in pcorf's typical (in my eyes at least) IWADish style of heavy use of hitscanners, usually ammassed behind doors. D2 monsters are sparingly used, I sort of expected an archive at the very end instead I got a skelly boy. Cool short snack map, good if you're not in the mood for, you know, all of Sunlust. 4 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 6 (edited) Rocket Doom (2020) by Aquila Chrysaetos Quote A gameplay modification which makes all weapons and monsters fire rockets of some variety. Only the archvile is unchanged, but all the weapons and the rest of the monster lineup are modified to fire and attack with rockets with a variety of properties, from bouncing rockets to seeking rockets to super rockets that explode into more rockets. An additional file (RcktDoomLite.wad) is included that reduces the number of projectiles spawned by the BFG, rocket launcher, and cyber demon rockets dramatically in the interest of online stability and performance for weaker hardware. Credits: Well, it sounds like kind of a joke but this is, indeed, a full functional wad that changes every shot fired by you and your enemies into rockets! Much as I like shooting rockets though, it's laying things on a little thick. Anyways, pinkies killing me near the beginning happened a little bit too often. That's all Warehouse (2001) by Pablo Dictter (Crispy Doom) Oh boy, another Pablo D map. You've played one, then you've played this one because that's exactly what this feels like! It won a contest? Huh, the only thing different to me are the crimson rock wall trim that can be found throughout. Easy enough map but there's around 4 Barons or so. Odd blue key placement tbh 4/10 Starship DOOM!!! (1994) by Douglas K. Lemore (Crispy Doom) Quote During a routine mission to the Federation outpost on Deimos, the Starship California was taken over by a evil race of aliens. To your surprise, they look much like the Hellspawn from your own world's past. As captain of your Starship you must protect the safety of the Federation, and of course your Starship!! So grab that pistol and go get 'em!!! Another case where the story is much, much better than the actual gameplay, and it's not even that strong! Every wall has what is seemingly the exact same texture, progression in a few cases is hidden behind unmarked walls (because that was just so common in the original IWAD) and ammo distribution doesn't necessarily line up with the numbers of enemies presented. The teleporter to the exit is hidden on top of a pillar, which gets a little bit annoying, but that was my fault for just heading to the sides instead of straight ahead from the switch. SFX replacements are a serious mixed bag. The lift-raising sound is goofy but pretty charming, the pistol shot sounds quite military-esque but the shotgun sound is just empty and stupid 2/10 Giznad for DOOM ][ Deathmatch (1995) by S. Bacquet (Crispy Doom) An actually really nice 1v1 hexagonal? map with rock brown surrounding walls and a couple of little building textures that even have paintings! There are enemies for single player but they really aren't worth the trouble. It's enough to say this has a surprising amount of effort put into it where the connections of the two halves of this room are concerned 6/10 Spoiler Spoiler ALLSKILL.WAD (1995) by the Immortal (Crispy Doom) A bland STARTAN open-air circle, the only feature of note being the small layered tower in the middle. There's some stupid sound effects but I didn't have this open long enough to register them. Really, this was just preparation for something else that I was really looking for! Spoiler The Keystone (1997) by Kevin Eudy Quote You'll see all three keys from the time you begin, but how to get them is the challenge. Only two of the keys are necessary to complete the level. There are many secrets that you must be observant in order to find. You may be surprised on the final staircase, but the Baron won't be. To round everything out, we have a shockingly solid and medium-sized single-player map for E1M2! The pit at the beginning is a little random and odd but at least it can be escaped. Elsewhere is some constant action and nice and expansive use of visuals. Combat is pretty boilerplate for the most part, hardly any monsters from the later episodes, but what's here is used well! A couple of little E1 homages can be spotted as well, and a few secrets I was too dumb and in a rush to bother with, like the switch lowering the yellow key which lets us access a Supercharge that was taunting us at the beginning. It's no Fava Beans clone but for anyone looking to get their old-school kicks in, this should more than satisfy! 7/10 I wanted to find a decent wad without too many pinkies for rocket doom but I ran out of time so basically, this is the end to quite a productive day! Spoiler Edited March 6 by LadyMistDragon 2 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 6 (edited) Darkness Flaw by Mysterious Haruko (2018), UV on DSDA Mappers, learn to compile your resources properly. This supposedly vanilla map almost made both DSDA and Crispy have a hissy fit. This said, a map by a mapper I've never heard of before, supposedly using the palette from one of the pigeon mapping sessions of yore. Overall, nothing to die for: the architecture is extremely blocky and simple even by vanilla standards, the combat is supposed to be dickish in a Plutonia kind of way but falls rather flat (an early AV is particuarly ineffective and almost made me quit out of sheer annoyance), and the whole deal is pretty much start room -> move to next room -> get the key -> backtrack to exit. Masterpieces have been made with this formula, but you're usually expected to disguise it a tiny bit better. The 'star' of the show is pretty much the purples and cyan palette, which might have been something new back then but by now left me rather jaded, and only goes to confirm my belief that, more often than not, outlandish palettes are a crutch more than added flavor. There is an outdoor area that is simple but quite nice looking, sadly you barely get a glimpse of it. EDIT: Wiki tells me that Mysterious Haruko is in fact an early alias of @Misty, whom I have indeed heard of and whose maps I (mostly) enjoy. Doesn't change my opinion on this here map, but at least we can now contextualize it as an early work from someone who made much better stuff later on. 3 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 7 Year 2 Month 10 Day 27 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Senators of Volition by Getsu Fune a.k.a. Hurricyclon @NuMetalManiak (2014) Quote Quote due to popular demand, i decided to do a design n' gameplay overhaul of my Mayhem2048 submission, which was MAP10, Sligenous. the map is now called Senators of Volition and has a red/tan color scheme throughout and gameplay is made to be more atmospheric. the map has been completely retextured from the original, but it's layout is the same. no keys, just press five switches to lower the exit, and yes Ribbiks, i decided to use one of your tunes in this, plz don't kill me. I mostly know Numetalmaniak as a prolific reviewer but as a true Doom fan, she manages to deliver some maps at times and that one sends you in an abstract fleshy cavern involving few enemies but lot of quirks. Your goal consists to find scattered switches in order to unlock the exit and the sandbox-y progression totally encourages you to explore this small map at your will and pace. It's quite impressive to offer so much exploration in a map of that size but I admit I was disoriented at first. This map offers convincing visuals and some areas strengten the feeling to be in the backrooms such as the beige corridors or ominous light gradients inside the fleshy parts. More generally, this map offers lot of abstract shapes and I appreciate them even if I belong in the Doomcute faction. After reading the name "Ribbiks" in the description, I was worried about the potential sadism of the map but the difficulty remains very tame overall, especially if you find the several secrets containing plasma gun. Still, Getsu Fune aimed for an optimal use of the 42 monsters and the handful of arch-viles released near the end of the map can be deadly but don't expect something too nasty. Senators of Volition definitely more barks than it bites, contrary to Ribbiks maps. I spent a good time on this map but it's probably a bit too gimmicky for my taste. I won't hide the fact that I would have liked something more conventional, but this is a submission for the Mayhem series after all. Grade : B- (12/20) Took a teleporter in Rambutt & Ruffian's Greatest Hits Feb 1995 - May 1997's map 01 , which insta-killed me. Quote 1 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 7 Kohe 4 (2007) by Ruba (Crispy Doom) Quote You are in a small base and you must get 2 keys and destroy KaKoKa Balls and fight the evil Genius in the last room!. This level looks good but not as good as Kohe 3. Sorry but I will try harder next time. It replaces Map 04....with good reason as it happens since the green hallways clearly come from that. What's more, Ruba creates a fairly nice tiny map with use of blue trim and even one open and vertical computer room. Unfortunately, the combat is AWFUL. A changun, a Megasphere, and Cacodemons literally everywhere, with a BFG at the very end along with a zombie. I think I may have missed a secret (or it's just Crispy Doom) but this is why people hated Ruba so much 1/10 The next hit was determined not even to be worth the trouble of downloading since it was literally another jokewad so after another time.... SERIOUS (PART TWO OF SERIES WAD) (1995) by James Relunia (Crispy Doom) This wasn't as solid a time as the other E1 map from yesterday, mostly due to some weird alignment issues and occasional overly plain hallways, but it was actually really nice otherwise! There's some quite inventive use of textural placements and every so often, we'll get a room that actually looks somewhat impressive. Still, it was determined not to waste time searching for the Megasphere secret. The Arch-vile in the door at the end was seriously random, not unlike some of the more gauntlet like monster placement of mid-tiers because it's not exactly what one would call an atmospheric map. That was a very nice trick James did with the doors toward the end, where they come up for a bit, then slowly start going up and down after walking for a second or two. I even think there's a little IWAD homage or two here, but they might honestly be accidental 6.5/10 1 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 8 Hellfire (2006) by Shadowman (GZ Doom) Shadowman's first released wad to /idgames, I sort of wonder why it didn't win a Cacoward but then, just examine how known he was at the time. Anyways, the concept here was apparently intriguing enough for Shadowman that it was revisited in a remake and two sequels. Since I only played the first map, I couldn't really tell you what that is but anyway, it's a work of typical Russian ambition and detail. Although if Doomwiki is right, it should work in any limit-removing port but Boom wasn't listed amongst the tested ports so I just used GZDoom with Final Doomer because it's still probably my favorite mod. Turned out to be a good thing because of all the meat in the narrow-ass hallways here but outside of the combat, there's nothing left to do but admire. So basically, we're in a tenament house with lots of cool paintings and a few verandas, some really nice custom texture usage and a whopping total of 7 secrets! Good news is that none of them are that cryptic and simple investigation of differently-appearing objects and such is enough to find them. I only found 5 but none of them sound cryptic in Doom wiki. I could pick this back up again, but for now, consider this likely abandoned. 3 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 8 Sargasso by @valkiriforce (2019), UV on DSDA Eleven maps for boom-compatible ports make up this total conversion, which... I didn't really enjoy. Like most of the stuff I rolled so far, but such is life. It seems like I have a knack for rolling very good mappers' weakest offers. While the core is, of course, still Doom's gameplay, pretty much every visual aspect is overhauled - from textures to weapons to hud and monsters - with varying degrees of success. I abhor the whole furry thing and anything that revolves around it, so having to constantly stare at an anthropomorphic wolf instead of good 'ol doomguy really took me out of the immersion. Enemies are Doom, Strife and Hell to Pay reskins, a bit samey and the roster has some very glaring misjudgments, like including a kamikaze - that sort of enemy is a blight and immediately makes any mapset worse. The HTP robots are also butt ugly and sort of annoying, as they seem to be dehacked to be at NM speed. Weapons sprites do look slightly familiar, but can't really place them. The maps themselves are pretty decent layout-wise, though sometimes exceedingly boxy and giving a bit of a copy-paste feeling: I don't know if that was part of the process, but it's the sensation I got. Lots of room, lots of incidental combat, passable overall - except map01. That one's dreadful no matter how you look at it. What can I say... it's one of those wads that are not objectively bad, certainly a lot of care has gone into it (like most non-jokey TCs) but I still ended up not enjoying. I pretty much spent the whole time wishing I was playing Reverie or Anomaly Report. 0 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 9 (edited) Oh heck, I played another one Map 02: Twilight Streets Hey, a wad with continuity between maps. Although everything just seems identical to the last one before finding an open window I ended up jumping out of. These city streets do have a certain Soviet character to them but that's not so obvious outdoors. It's more evident in the nearby liquor store and in the other townhouses in the neighborhood that are equal to the outdoor sections in proportion. There are some curious color choices and pictures of certain people I assume are Russian political figutes. Although the nicest room has a portrait of Yulia Timoshenko (and maybe that's Viktor Yanukovych behind the other one? i doubt it) behind one bed that will squash you if you step in it for more than a second. But if you know why Shadowman got banned from DW, that won't be too surprising. Progression is determined in part by leaping between buildings and when you plunge into an obscure alley near a subway entrance, that's the end of the map. We only found 3 out of 7 secrets this time. PS. Seems I forgot about the Cacodemon in the Heretic bathroom :P) Spoiler The next map has like 250 monsters though so we move on.... FGCanyon (1996) by Christopher John Hammett (Crispy Doom) A single, open, large square room, with a series of crushers in the center, several hallways and side rooms surrounding it and a massive green pit and some truly awful usage of slime and red rock textures elsewhere. And I don't even know what the E3 sky texture is about, it's literally one of the worst uses of it I've seen 1/10 DG wad (1998) by Dan Sumrata (Crispy Doom) Quote I made this level because I felt there wasn't any levels out there that just spoiled you. Sometimes I would really get made because there would be be no ammo or something. So it's over stocked! Awful. Stuff is unmarked on the Automap, the description is highly sarcastic, textures completely clash, and there's basically little to no sense of structure. The monster-stuffed room is kind of nice, but it would be shit anywhere else 1/10 Edited March 9 by LadyMistDragon 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 9 (edited) Brick | 3 wads | 3 maps Lifetime | 300 wads | 1343 maps Elevator (1994) by Kevin Haley. 1 map for vanilla Doom. The lone idgames review might seem harsh but it's not wrong, it might be a tough map but it's not a fun one. There are 2 ways forward from the start, one with the shotgun behind a bunch of enemies, and another that exists just to waste your precious pistol bullets so that you have to punch your way to the shotgun later on. The titular elevator is slow and goes on for a long time, and there are plenty of opportunities to fall down and have to wait for it again. At the top are a squad of barons, and since we're still with the shotgun only I just ran past. The level design is very amateurish, texturing is mediocre (forget about alignments naturally) and honestly the map is just not good. Spoiler The Sewage Works (2014) by Christopher Bazley & John Tardrew. 1 map for Doom II in Boom. This one is so much better, it's a medium length map with a slight adventure feel, with distinct sections. The architecture is very nice, a lot of it is trying to make the facility look more realistic. Detailing is pretty good. Lighting is superb in parts, but there are also some segments where the darkness is a bit excessive, the sewers are the low point, too dark with little of interest in them. Other sections are more fun and the key hunt is well done. The last segment is a great recreation of a town with some very nice custom assets, it transcends mystreet.wad style and really is a very good town map section, though I was surprised how much of it is optional (most of the indoors can be skipped and you can beeline straight for one of the exit lines, which are unmarked and are a bit of a surprise). I don't know either author but they've done well with this map. This is a reupload apparently 14 years after the original where Christopher went back and did some adjustments, I'm not sure how much they improve on the original but the final product is a pleasant surprise. Spoiler Gates (1997) by David Johnston. 1 map for vanilla Doom. And speaking of pleasant surprises! The text file gives me the feeling I've come across this before (maybe also on ER/IWA?) but I didn't recognize anything once I started playing. No matter because it's a very fun adventure through a map that's surprisingly large considering the vanilla limit. The design is a bit strange, the key hunt is linear but there are lots of side passages and optional areas, in fact I'd say about half the map or maybe more is completely optional, yielding the plasma weapons and a generous supply or armour and Supercharges as well as additional goodies. All difficulties are the same but the cornucopia of helpful items makes the map relatively easy. I don't know if everyone else will feel the same but I really enjoyed this unusual approach to level design, it was always fun coming across a locked door, then much later going through an optional area and opening that door from the other side, once you've explored thoroughly there's a very strong sense of connection between all the sections. Visually the detailing is quite good for the time, there are a lot of small touches with lighting and texture choices and it gives the wad a pretty professional feel, misalignments are almost always purposeful. It's a very well done map with traditional gameplay but some interesting quirks in the design, I had a lot of fun playing through. And I just realized this was my 300th wad by my count, not a bad one for a landmark! Spoiler 4 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 9 (edited) The Collection by Brett Sampson (1995) UV on DSDA Single map for Doom 2, from 1995. A concept map, the idea being that in each room, you fight a group of the same type of monster, eventually taking you through an entire 'collection' of the game's bestiary. While the idea might be interesting in theory (and whole megawads have been built around it), in practice the map is hamstrung by some severe flaws - even ignoring mere technical ones, like invalid sectors and entirely missing textures. First of all, in order to 'isolate' each challenge, each room starts with a drop from a ledge and, this not being ZDoom, you can imagine the results: more often than not you're just stuck into the previous room, waiting to either make the jump or have unreachable enemies munch away at your hp. In second instance, the challenges are, for the most part, not really 'challenges', but more of a 'here is a megasphere, here is a chainsaw, just dash through' kind of deal. The monsters charge you, and you somehow survive by making a mad run for the next room, to repeat the cycle again. Only interesting setup was the spidermama room, but it's one out of how many? Visually, the map is alright, for a 90s map at least - some rooms look pretty cool, others are the usual early days garble of textures and inexplicable sky textures used as wallpaper. So yeah, cool 90s novelty but can be easily skipped. 2 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 10 Brick | 1 wad | 10 maps Adventure | 4 wads | 13 maps Dance on the Water (2022) by El Inferno. 10 SP maps for Doom II in Boom. This is literally unplayable on GZDoom, which gave me a good excuse to play with DSDA-Doom and get out of my comfort zone. Speaking of which, I tried (but not very hard I admit) to play this fair but the combination of precise platforming and high (very, very high) challenge combat puts this light years above above my skill level. I considered a -nomonster run but settled for a cheat run instead because I still wanted to see what the combat setups look like. I'm not sure this was a good idea. The combat really is ridiculously hard even on HMP (and so is the platforming, despite text file mentions that both are easier than on UV; I don't even want to know what that is like), but the problem with too many of these combat challenge wads is the way they end up designing puzzles to fit within the combat setups, and this one was no exception. At least MAP02 is nice enough to put numbers at each location, but they are not always useful since they're get hidden underneath the thousand monster corpses, and it doesn't change the fact that running back and forth after killing everything to push switches in order is just busywork (I may also have soured on this one a bit because, as far as I can tell, switch VI broke for no apparent reason and softlocked me). Another modern combat wad convention that will surprise no one: the maps all look stunning, with great vistas, humongous architecture (I'm going to borrow from Lovecraft and call it Cyclopean) and remarkable Boom special effects. The huge sizes can get a bit much at times, when spending over a minute running through an empty open area that stretches on seemingly forever, but it also gives rise to some memorable moments, such as in MAP04 where it takes some running forward before the sheer scale of the megastructure ahead starts making any sense, and it comes as quite a shock when it does. I'm not sure I would have wanted to spend the 10 hours required to beat MAP03 (according to the text file), and I'm still not sold on five-digit monster counts in a map, but if that's your thing you'll probably enjoy this more than I did, and even then I don't regret my time with it, my eyes certainly got their money's worth. Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 10 Tech Lab by Lee @DooMAD Wallis (2005), UV on DSDA A short map by one of those creators that, while still occasionally active on the forums, hasn't really released anything in a while - eight years, according to the wiki. They did make a map for Newdoom tho. The map itself is a short, pleasant affair that doesn't overstay its welcome. A little quaint techbase, with a few custom textures, pretty nice custom music and, for reasons I can't really fathom, doors that are just recolored STARTAN textures and, for a little while, had me wandering around like a headless chicken. There is a bit of that 'changing stuff just because I can' fad from the early 2000's, such as sound replacements that actually sound *worse* than the original, but they are not at the forefront and fortunately don't detract too much from the experience. The map itself is super compact, almost in a 1024 kind of way, and has some pretty nice sectorwork in spite of its almost vanilla soul. Short and sweet, certainly better than most stuff I played so far. 4 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 10 Year 2 Month 10 Day 28 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] BOLEX.WAD by Brian Scofield (1996) Quote Quote This wad is very confusing, you have to go everywhere in it to beat the level THERE IS AN END!!! It is just hard to get to!!:*) BOLEX seems to be inspired by "Trick and Traps"'s level design : you start in a large room acting as hub because it contains lot of doors leading to different sections. Most of the doors don't require any key except few, including the one concealing the exit of course. BOLEX.WAD was far from being "very confusing" as I even found Sandy Petersen's masterpiece a lot more intricate than this but it's definitely randomly designed, pejoratively speaking. The author tried to assemble random ideas and create some "puzzles" but all of this result to an insignificant mess. What is the purpose of the overlarge blocky landscapes exclusively made of red bricks for instance? Or the pinkies stuck in a oddly dark paddock? The challenge presented here is also underwhelming. Most of the encounters are imps and zombies. The only Mastermind in this map is stupidly blocked in one of the paddocks mentioned above. The only tricky/puzzley section reside in the mini-labyrinth flooded by toxic nukage and you have to find a radsuit located elsewhere in order to cross it. About the visuals, it's nothing more than the usual abstract mediocrity from average user-maps of the 90's. I expected worse but it's still lowbrow. Grade : C- (8/20) [2] spiral.zip by Richard Krehbiel (1994) Quote Quote Here's my very first complete original level ever. It's episode 2 level 1. It was created using DEU 5.0, and the bsp11x nodes-builder. It has only had a few hours of play-testing. These days I think deathmatch is the only game to play, and I think this level is a lot of fun in a deathmatch. An Ultimate Doom map that is so old that it will blow the 30 candles in April. The author mentioned it's highly-compatible to Deathmatch but spiral.zip is first and foremost a singleplayer map with 3 keys to recover and monsters to kill. My tolerance threshold may be too high, but I have no real complaints about this map apart from its age. It offers a consistent texturing in each section : red and lava for the small hell area, greenish and metal textures for the sewers... The author put the effort in order to create several landmark such as the spiraling staircases made of Startan leading to the red key. I praise the usage of door textures for doors which is far from being a given for wads released 30 years ago. At last, spiral.zip plays fine with a reasonable number of monsters and lot of medkits to heal your wounds. It doesn't mark the memories as other wads like "Doomsday of UAC" or just the maps from the IWAD can do but it breaks the stereotype that says that old maps = crap. Grade : C (10/20) Got stuck in the last map of Sacrament and eventually sentenced to die in the lava. Quote 4 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 10 MURDER2 (1994) by Lawrence Britt (Crispy Doom) Quote A spelunker's horror story This WAD is for registered versions of DOOM by id Software. For solo cave explorers this level is not overdone in difficulty. There is only one Baron and two cacodemons, nothing harder. Difficulty levels have been set as well as four multi-player start positions and nine deathmatch reincarnation spots. For deathmatch players, extra weapons have been placed. Sorry, no BFG. There are numerous sniper spots and hide-aways for those not inclined to roam about. Almost all parts of the cave are accessible by teleport. This was to preclude lots of passage hunting. Two keyed cave gates let the solo player explore all the passages before arriving at the exit (beyond Double Wells). A self-running DEMO is included. Simply type MURDERME to watch it. Select Episode two to play it. This level replaces E2M1. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- For those interested in reading it, the following paragraphs describe the REAL Murder Hole cave that this level was modeled after. Murder Hole is a vertical cave (ropes required) and very dangerous due to shifting breakdown, numerous pits, and exposure (amount of empty space below you on various straddles and climbs). Some friends and I are currently surveying the cave and it should top out around two miles in length. The entrance is a 78 foot rappel that leads to two Straddle Pits. The third pit drops into the Climbing Section. The next room is the Meander Room (demon lunching on a cave vandal). This central room has passages to the west and to the east. The western side leads to the Park Bench overlooking a chasm, then to the pool area (protective Baron). Beyond, the Layback Climb leads up to a large room that may be a second entrance (lava room). Eastward from the Meander Room, a staircase leads up to a passage with the Elevator on the left and the Butt Ledge ahead (we normally sit on the ledge with feet dangling over the 30 foot pit and lean under the overhanging rock)! Beyond the Butt Ledge is Double Wells; twin 90 foot pits. The three northern passages seen on the map from this area all lead down to the Elevator stream which we have now connected to the Climbing Section (yellow key gate). The western side of this stream sumps north in a round room. This is the entrance to Atlantis. We surveyed through it during a long drought and connected it back to the chasm area. Unfortunately, since Atlantis is underwater most of the year, so it is here. Many passages have been left out due to editor restrictions. Still, you are looking at over a mile of cave! Remember the caving motto; Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints, Kill nothing but time. Yeah, right!! Enjoy! Critical Edge The name Lawrence Britt looked familiar but after checking the archives out, he seems to have had only one other release so I'm probably remembering someone else playing this. Anyways, Murder 2 is, for lack of a better word, a series of underground caverns that I'm sure in mid '94 was the best looking thing around. See, caves hadn't really been rendered in a remotely realistic manner in video games up to this point and this map does a great job of it! Putting aside the little details like the rock steps and the bench overlooking one cavern, Larry really has a certain eye for tastefulness that in some cases, does an excellent job at crafting proto-TNT vast underground spaces, probably closest to something like Deepest Reaches, but is still evident in other maps like Ballistix and the ever maligned Quarry and Baron's Den. This sort of precludes the top 100 wad Artifact in the scale of what's achieved here. One of the mine tunnels stretches on ominously with a serious lack of light underpinning the mood. Another location I really liked was the all-red cavern. All obvious eye-strain aside, there is something so stark and so in your face and yet so all in that at the least, it's hard not to admire it. Although I can't say I really understand the blood ceiling but this mostly feels like we've plunged down to the deepest depths possible and that we are in the hell as we imagine it. This very much is a product of its time though. Meaning that these tunnels sprawl on in a wholly illogical manner much of the time and likely annoying to most people are the essentially pointless slime pits at the beginning. More of a problem is the combat is ultimately not terribly interesting and largely doesn't occupy the vast spaces covered. When all is said and done though, this is an excellent example of what was possible in the early days, without the flash and verve that would come later and I'm sure was probably one of the most popular maps for the first few months of Doom mapping 6.5/10 2 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 11 Section X (1995) by Clint Bowick (Crispy Doom) A small, squarish and cramped map that probably had to have been designed for 1 v 1. Maybe it's a bit on the large side for that but it's also hard to see unless a person was just new to mapping that it could be anything else. Truth be told, it's not too bad, certainly not when it was released, but some of the texture choices are quite strange 4.5/10 Spoiler UAC Research Station #1024 (2005) by Will Hackney (From Doom with Love) Quote I wanted to make an entry for Lutrov's 1024x1024 wad and came up with this awesome idea and started making it, but found out that the 244 linetype, which my level revolves around the use of, wasn't kosher for the project. So, I took the level and decided I hadn't released anything in way too long, and turned it into this. The level takes place on a two-deck spaceship, complete with quarters, galley, rec area, laundry, computer room, science lab, cryo room, power control, observatory, and a bridge. The level is definitely doable from a pistol start, and it's even easier if you find both of the secrets. I didn't implement skill settings in this map because it's so small to begin with. There's also an element of strategy involved, particularly in the final run to get the blue key and exit. Will Hackney here delivers what's probably his second best map released (maybe not counting his CC 3 entry but it'll probably be a bit before I get around to that), made for Thomas Lutrov's 1024 mapping contest (Congestion 1024 I think) but it seems to have been rejected because reasons. But here's an example of someone taking the 1024 restriction and actually making it work within a realistic setting! Washrooms, dryer rooms, kitchens and kitchen/break room combos as well as engine rooms and pilot chairs can all be spotted throughout the station. Unfortunately, the 1024 restriction probably hurts the map quite a bit. Waiting a bit for a shotgun or super shotgun is annoying, but manageable with the ammo and enemies provided in the meantime. But the action is perhaps patchier than it needs to be, the moment where we tell the Baron of Hell we're the captain now is only really managable through a secret plasma rifle and even then, he can not be dodged in such a tiny cabin and with how fast he moves. It would make the Cyberdemon at the end even more of an insult, but with the exception of the plasma rifle being too annoying to use, hitting him isn't so challenging. On the other hand, the triple Arch-vile threat is genuiely some brilliant stuff. Take out one, hear their continued growling and wonder just where there'll be encountered next. It's the best combat encounter Will could ever hope to craft, and again, I leave out CC3 but who cares 6.5/10, probably better if we got an SS at the start because the combat at the beginning would feel far less patchy. 1 Share this post Link to post
Sena Posted March 11 Storm the UAC Military Base by REBELVODKA (2023) Considering the author's username, and the fact they describe their WAD as "godlike" in the textfile, I'm not really sure why they're trying to invoke Columbine. But it doesn't really matter, this is a quite standard Doom 1 techbase level, with some good detailing in a lot of places, though it also has a couple rooms that are of the kind you only really see from more novice mappers, empty hallways that don't really connect anything, and cubic rooms that contain 1-2 enemies that are dispatched with zero trouble, some of which are also dead ends. It's fairly short, not as much so for me because I had to take the (longer than usual) elevator a total of three times to finally clear the level, but compared to a lot of other basic techbases that are half its length, it manages to establish itself and create a sense of character. 6/10. https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/sounds/rob-will I didn't bother to load this one, but it's a Robin Williams sound pack. Not sure why they made it, but it's out there. 4 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 12 Reactor 2 by Scott Crank (1995?) UV on DSDA Yes, that Scott Crank, the one who made WTRFRONT.WAD, allegedly the first map incorporating the ghost monsters bug in its design. Apparently he made a handful of other wads, all dating 1995 or thereabout - this one is actually a 2006 upload of a dateless map, though considering it's a remake "from a couple of months later" of a 1995 upload, we can place its inception date pretty safely. The map itself is, much like Waterfront, a slightly more quality take on your typical 1995 tropes - large ass rooms with two or three imps in it, mishmash of themes with no apparent logic, and so on. There are a lot of upgrades compared to other offers from Doom's prehistory: all textures are more or less aligned, big guns are given rather quickly (which always makes for fun gameplay) and the layout, while labyrinthine, does at least loop on itself a bit, and you can see progression from previous rooms. A bit more involved than your average 90s map, we might say. Still, nothing to write home about, and I doubt anyone will ever remember Crank for any other map than Waterfront. EDIT: fun piece of trivia - unless we have an impersonator in our hands (and let's be real, who would impersonate a guy who made three maps twenty-some years ago?) Crank is still active on YouTube, though not in Doom. From a comment on a WTRFRONT.WAD playthrough, we sadly also find out that he just pulled its amazing MIDI out of some random repository. Spoiler 2 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 12 SPACE.WAD (1994) by Chris Badger, edited by Sean Hawthorne (Crispy Doom) Pretends to be a space station but in spots, feels more like a cargo ship. The reflective glass ain't bad but earlier wads were already doing that sort of thing. And the sfrx replacements for the pistol are just horrible. I think it's meant to be like a laser pistol but it just sounds high-pitched and stupid. Just lots of square rooms and feel free to avoid. Oh, there's the Demons in the lab tanks. Decent vistas in points maybe. 3/10 Spoiler Spoiler FIVE REALLY INSANE ENVIRONMENTS in DOOM. (1994) by Michael C. Davis (GZ Doom) Quote This level pits you against five different enemies in five different environments... There are (roughly) five different types of enemies that you may encounter. The "tools" that may be useful for securing the next area are usually provided in the current area... Good luck, Colonel, We're depending on you. Baaaaad. The description is technically correct but the main issue is that these rooms are all so plain and empty, the best appearing one being the slime lake room with the platforms and Barons at one end. And where the hell's the exit? Pass 1/10 MyHouse (1996) by Rahul Nath (Crispy Doom) Quote A pretty accurate representation of my house in the Blue mountains, NSW, Australia. besides the cyberdaemon in the back yard. Not very good. While a convincing ranch house, it's a little spare on detail. And while it's cool to see all the forests surrounding it, the same can't quite be said of the mulch tunnels surrounding it. It's all quite charmingly 94 until it's realized that they can stretch on interminably. Combat is pretty bad and it overloads players with Berserk Packs, but then again, it's not like there's places where every square corner has monsters. Basically skippable though 5/10 Spoiler 3 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 12 Year 2 Month 10 Day 29 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] The Traphouse by @DukeNukem4ever (2018) Quote Quote Just a map I made last month. You need to escape a traphouse built by a human traitor...and kill the demons along the way. "The Traphouse" seems like to be a tribute to the map "Wormhole" from TNT evilution but with traps, way more traps, as its name suggests. It contains lot of crampy 64-pixels wide corridor and use the TNT music from the same map. I really didn't plan to survive here and to be frank, I expected more a bullshit unfair experience because you start behind a caged arch-vile with no weapons nor ammo. However, once I discovered I can escape the first room via a not-so-hidden lift, my hopes soon rose again, and in the end I managed to stay alive right to the end. Actually, this map involves some tricky battles and some easy but stressful platforming sections but the difficulty lies more in not knowing what's going to happen. The beginning of the map forces you to kill some monsters in tight corridors with nothing else than a pistol and a shotgun and a careful ammo management is crucial here. You can save some shells if you know that a crusher can kill the caged arachnotron guarding one of the key but it's impossible to guess it during the first playthrough except if you dare taking lot of risks by bypass the monster and take a ton of plasma balls to the back or face. The toughest battles are located near the end of the map, and for my part, the secret plasma gun hidden in a not-so-hidden secret saved my ass against a nasty duo of arch-viles. The final battle in the arena, involving a cyberdemon and a roaming arch-vile, can be extremely dangerous if you're too hasty, but it all works out perfectly if you let the cyberdemon do his job of killing what's around him while you hide behind the marble pillars. I think DukeNukem4ever did a good job keeping a high level of adrenalin during the whole map. I never get bored. because it lacks a bit of storytelling. It's more like a series of more or less sadistic traps, with no real context. If I take very difficult wads like Sunder for example, there's a real effort in creating a universe to immerse the player, but here it's too abstract. It's like a wad made by a TNT evilution fan with a penchant for vicious traps. It's not bad in itself, but it's not my cup of tea. At last, I played on gzdoom because its author played only on that port but "The Traphouse" looks more like a limit-removing or even a vanilla map , regarding the low details and the "i-wady" aesthetics. Grade : C+ (11/20) [2] Bloody Hell by Clint Bowick (1995) Quote Quote Designed as a 2 or 3 player lev. A few transporters with a couple of good hidey holes. A sort of remote secret bunker used as a deathmatch arena. it's a mixture between overgrown ruins and a watery tech-base. I highly doubt this map is fun on deathmatch, the progression is a little convoluted with narrow passages, which can quickly become a problem in multiplayer, I suppose. The map contains several blurspheres which may turn you duel into a hide-and-seek game. ike many of the DM maps I've looked at, I'd have preferred it to be used for single-player, as I like the theme and atmosphere. [3] HEXICU.WAD by The Forever Man (aka Jason Still) (1996) Quote Quote Hexen version of my ICU Heretic dm wad. Playing Hexen in 2024 is already niche by itself but what about playing in multiplayer mode? Visiting this map was a little waste of time. is content to place lots of items at random, which gives the impression of looking for Easter eggs. The architecture is uniformly square and the alignment of the brick texture is infuriating at least. I managed to trigger the "all-ghost" bug in Parallels. What an unlucky day. Quote 2 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 13 Year 2 Month 10 Day 30 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Bartfx3.wad by Jim Wiscarson (AKA) Bartman (1996) Quote Quote Original doom2 deathmatch wad 2 to 4 player wad probably better w/2. It's small for a great two player game. The size is big cause of the added textuers. I think designing DM maps can just be small occasions to implement weird random ideas because you don't have to care about the overall theme of the map or the placements of monsters for instance. That one sets you among brown ruins at the middle of the night but the author added animated textures of a crying man and giant spiders as mid-tex. Funny or creepy? But I don't know why Bartman did it, and I don't think he does either. [2] DWELLER2.WAD for Doom II by The Dweller in the Cellar (1996) Quote Quote - The Dweller Series is a series of deathmatch levels designed for "extreme" deathmatch, with any number of players. Very fast, intricate and intense levels that have a "multi-leveled, watch your back, on the edge of your seat" type of feel to them. - Dweller2 is a compilation of all my creations to date. This includes all my maps previously released up to 13, and new levels to 16. My older maps 02, 03 and 06 have also been revised; maps 03 and 06 basically being completely new and hopefully you will think they are improvements over the old. Happy killing. The layout of those 16 maps are for the most part more polished and elaborated that what I see in singleplayer wads of the same era. They feature lot of heights variations, interconnectiveness, pretty combos of textures and classy shadow effects amon the last maps. I really like the addition of the E4's orange sky too for the second episode. The next file is 300 minutes of /vr/ but I don't have the time to play this so that's all for today. 3 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 13 Assault 3 (1996) by Ernie Noa (GZ Doom) A 3-map set that's the third of a set by Noa, this is so unforgivably bland, with so many moments of level design that while not cryptic, serve most effectively to kill the fun, that it's hard even to find the words to talk about. As an example, there's nary a particularly ugly moment to be found and while Ernie has a competent grasp on verticality, he creates few moderately situations with it. And the opening lift's an incredibly bad sign. While not all of them are as slow as that, there's also little rhyme and reason to the speed which they will raise. 3/10, while little wrong with it as such, the repetitive gameplay and design really drag this down. Least it isn't monotextured. 1 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 14 Brick | 1 wad | 34 maps Adventure | 5 wads | 47 maps Eviltech: Soul Of Megawad (2012) by Nicolás Monti. 34 SP maps for limit-removing Doom II. Back in 2002, @nicolas monti made a dozen maps of a planned megawad before giving up on the editor. A decade later and now armed with Doom Builder, he dusted off and finished the full megawad. Although I often play with GZDoom I never use hardware rendering for wads that don't require it, but Nicolas made extensive OpenGL light definitions so I made an exception. The maps are all named after Buenos Aires subway stations with each one taking on the colour associated with that station. None of them are subways though, they're mostly E1 or E2 techbases. The early batch from 2002 are so steeped in this design that they use only Doom I enemies and no SSG, they're small and brisk affairs, but I still found them very enjoyable. The small size ensures the switch and key hunts are never frustrating, and I found them remarkably good in the way they're set up to keep you moving forward with clear hints of where to go next. Then at MAP12 Nicolas discovered DB2 and the map get huge, enemy count is quadrupled, Doom II things make an appearance, and unfortunately the wad starts dragging on a bit. It's not that any of the maps are bad, far from it, but they are long and complex and convoluted, and after spending an hour running around one before finally cracking it, the thought that the next dozen will be just as gruelling is a bit discouraging. I'm not proud of it but I admit I noclipped in several maps, just the thought of all the backtracking I knew I had to do after over an hour already on a map was too much. Some also drag on a good concept long after it outstays its welcome, MAP13's ledge-jumping is fun at first but failing one of the many jumps means several minutes of backtracking (worse is falling for that Supercharge secret, which guarantees having to redo it all, including those pointless spiral corridors), and asking us to do yet another gauntlet after the yellow door is really pushing it. Another example, the SS slaughter is fun for the first hundreds but I don't think the concept holds past a thousand, and they still keep coming. Just when I thought I couldn't take another magnum opus map, the wad switched to shorter ones going into the last third. It then slowly builds up towards large maps again for the final stretch, but the break was the boost I needed to enjoy myself again. Visually many of the maps are beautiful, despite its age the wad has some of Nicolas's best-looking maps. The excesses in the middle episode are the wad's only flaw as some of the individual levels are excellent, I think changing the map order and breaking up the stretch of big maps with some smaller ones (as Nicolas did for the last third) would have helped with the pacing. I think this is especially true because some of those huge maps are among the best despite their excessive complexity, MAP32 may be exhausting but it's a very memorable mashup of bits and pieces from almost every Doom I map. I think my favourite was MAP33, the park with the highway running over it is so beautifully detailed. Even though it frustrated me in parts it's a great megawad. Spoiler 4 Share this post Link to post
Lisaancelle Posted March 14 Earth by Roger Ritenour (1998) UV on DSDA Well, now we know where BPRD got all their ideas from. Pretty much the same energy, for better and for worse. The ten maps set for Doom II I understand has a sort of cult status - which, after playing through the set, I am not sure I full agree with. Sure, the opening shot with midtextures simulating waves is nice, paired with the music, and probably a big change from what came before it. This, however, is all the mapset has going for it. The layouts are nonsensical, underdetailed even by late 90s standards, and a meandering mess for the most part. Combat is entirely incidental and haphazard, just a sort of 'pile up monsters in a dark corner and have them go at the player' credo that gets fairly tiresome after 4-5 maps of it. Some 'tricks' are just infuriating - the absurdly deep water in MAP01 being a sore standout. Add to this loads of spaghetti corridors linking rectangular rooms textured with no sort of cohesion at all, and you get a set that, if it wasn't for that famous first shot, would be entirely skippable. To be fair there are some visually interesting moments, like the green tower of marble in one of the pics, but these moments are few and far between. There is a ZDoom version with apparently more detail and gameplay, but I have no desire to bother with it. 4 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 14 Year 2 Month 10 Day 31 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Place of 2 DOOM Deaths by Tommie Quick (1998) Quote Quote This was one of my "i'm bored, what can I do?" levels. So, I decided to make a deathmatch level based on my favorite Quake 2 DM level. This level is not meant to be EXACTLY like QDM1, you will notice differences, but it is VERY similar. It's good fun to play too. I have no knowledge about Quake's DM maps but I can easily perceived how the author tried to replicate the medieval architecture from the game by using brown brick textures everywhere and linking the rooms with sector arches. Moreover, you can step on a 3D-floor which seems to be an attempt to recreate the 3D aspect of Quake. [2] Red Eye - The Mars Files by Ismaele (Alberto Sposito) @Ismaele (2004) Quote Quote This .WAD was to be a DeathMatch level, at the beginning. But it came to nothing, because it was too big to be a DeathMatch map and there were some other incompatibilities with DeathMatch gameplay. Then I modified it so that it could be good enough for Cooperative and Single-Player modes. Then Virgil The Doom Poet helped me to finish the level, detailing it and improving its story and scripts, so that we decided to change again the tiltle from "Storming", its second name, to "Red Eye", because of the several changes. This level is set in a technology base, which can be divided in 9 areas. They are: 1) Leaving Area; 2) Casualty Ward; 3) Teleport Station; 4) Armoury; 5) Nukage Area and Sewer System; 6) Computer Station; 7) Infested Area; 8) Warehouse; 9) Outer Area. As its original name suggested ("Metal_DM"), the main theme of the map is "metal" and, particularly, it is made up of "METAL1" textures. It is highly detailed, especially as for lighting, and this may slowdown old computers (I suggest that you decrease your resolution, if the game slowdown!). This map is mainly intended to show my new ideas about Doom themes and styles and to publish a level of high quality, although I didn't think I would have spent so much time, when I planned it. ZDoom features and ACS scripts are implemented in order to make gameplay more interesting and funnier. The .WAD contains also two strengthened monsters: -there is a "new" Chaingunner, who looks very much like other Chainguners, but who is more powerful than them. -his Body Guards, who are strengthened SS Nazis, with a nice green colour (yes, like in "Alien 3"!) WARNING: I don't want to spoil anything, but let this be a warning: there are several stealth monsters, which can damage you a lot, if you are imprudent; please, notice that most of them can be locate easily, if you know what I mean... they are GHOSTS, after all...! Anyway, if you don't like them, I have turned them into normal monsters at skill 1/2. So: don't complain about them! Remember that JUMPING IS CHEATING, although I think I made all "jumping short cuts" unreachable. Enjoy yourself by playing it with your friends and delighting in looking at my new nice graphics! This is what the wads of the future should have looked like before there was the wave of BTSX and co : zdoom-compatibles levels following a more modern formulas like scripting, non-midi soundtrack and more "realistic" layouts with their share of corridors and square rooms. I have a neutral opinion about those kind of levels, they can be decent but most of them turn to be really cheesy. About "Red Eye" I would have enjoyed this level more if the author had not abused the "Stealth Monsters" feature (they become visible only when they attack). It's fare from being a hard map but without exagerrating, half of the monsters become stealthy from the second half of the map. This is one of the worst zdoom features and I'm glad modern zdoom mappers don't overuse it. Fortunately, this map turns out to be pretty cramped full of ammo so the monsters will miserably fail at dodging your SSG shots. Red Eye is nothing more than a classic adventure in a tech-base with a bit more of "story-telling". For instance, your distant teammate will hack some doors for you in order to grant the access or some lines appear in order to tell you where you are , like the armory or the warehouse. Since I still have two functionning eyes, those scripts are useless. About the visuals, it's not bad but dated and somewhat noobish , the author forgot to lower-unppeg the doortrak textures FFS. Actually , the small hellish-fleshy part constitutes my favourite area of the map but it's one specific part. The map is passable, but the numerous zdoom effects make it paradoxically more old-fashioned than modern. The invisible monsters are really annoying, and I finally got fed up of shooting into the air. Grade : C (9/20) [3] GS's Arena by Alain Arrault (1995) Quote Quote This wad is designed for use with the new DEATHMATCH 2.0 rules. The wad consist in an area surrounded by an higher corridor. In the central area is situated a pool with fifteen lifts (good for hunting). The main area also includes miscellanous structures with some additional lifts to quickly go from a place to another one. I also included a small dark room. The only remaining weapons are shotguns, a chainsaw and a chaingun in order not to allow easy frags (but it's still bloody ;-) ). There's no monsters. At least this patch includes a new music from Van Halens, Jump. An ordinary Deathmatch map designed for Doom 1 I already visited in Month 3 Day 26 (6th August 2021). Here's what I wrote about it : "An another single deathmatch for UD which had been forgotten since a long time ago. Aesthetically , the texture alignement is very decent for an old UD map , which greatly improves the aesthetics. As, the author said, the map contains many platforms , but also some barrels in order to explode your opponent maybe? Anyway, I enjoyed the midi version of Van Halen's "Jump". Exploring the map was a bit less boring." I played on DOSBOX instead of crispydoom in order to catch more the good ol' Doom feel. I have to say the midi conversion of Van Halen's song is .... cute. This map also has lots of barrels, maybe to blow up your friends or.... yourself? [4] Red Christmas 2000 by Ed Cripps @Ed (2000) Quote Quote Chrismas comes but once a year. And what would be a more fitting way to celebrate the holidays then running through dank hallways with a double barrel shotgun? This is a four player deathmatch map for the Zdoom port. A sequil to the previous RC relesed last year. It is rich in Zdoom effects, not heavy scripting, but zdoom/dehacked effects nevertheless. Such as, um... rain. Have fun... What are you looking for if the wad has "Christmas" in its title? Colorful snow-themed maps or a grungy brown base filled with toxic sludge? The second choice of course ! Joke aside, this map is really inspiring for a single-player adventure : you'll quickly notice the rain and the latter is also toxic. If you don't have an umbrella, you'll need a radsuit to walk safely outside. This map uses the music from Doom 2 Map 31 but I advise you to turn it off so that this map becomes a delightful asmr experience in which you can hear the rain. [5] The Remote Complex by Segfault @indigotyrian (2018) Quote Quote Two hours ago, a priority security alert was received on all channels from the Abrash Remote Research Complex, a small research and development site built into a steep hill among the terraformed landscape of Europa. Forty minutes ago, the Quick Reaction Force arrived on site. You've heard nothing since then, and now you're about to round the corner, into the dip where the entrance to the Remote Complex sits... [This is my first custom Doom map. Ever. Let me know what you think!] "The Remote Complex" definitely belongs in the classic category with its vanilla compatibility, exclusive usage of stock textures and good ol' tech-base theme. This map contains several keys to collect scattered in different areas and a cyberdemon to kill but it remains short-ish overall thanks to its simple progression. "Classic" feeling doesn't mean underdetailed in this map. Numerous sections contain either rather elaborate lightings or lot of crates which sometimes prove to be opened, requiring therefore addditional sectors. This map isn't heavily interconnected because Segfault didn't have the choice. Designing large zones or tons of interconnected usually meaning sacrifying lots of details in vanilla map-making. If this map was part of a hypothetical megawad, I think it could be a cool spicy map for the first episode. This map alternates between simple encounters and dangerous traps. Killing the lone cyberdemon in the blue-carpeted room was a piece of cake but the yellow key's trap surprised me by its brutality because it instantly surround you with low-tiers including some chainies and some hell nobles. Not difficult but it requires some prioritazition if you want to end up shredded by the zombies in few seconds. This is a really convincing first attempt at mapping. Not groundbreaking but there's no lack of anything, and the subdued techno music blends in well with the action. Grade : B (13,5/20) A sneaky chaingunner placed on crate got me in Stronghold Quote 3 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 14 Kashmir (1998) by Mr. Ginger (Crispy Doom) I'll give you five guesses as to what midi is being...anyways, we've a got a really good 1v1 map here, brown and tan mainly but with a good use of windows and lighting, along with some shameless advertising, and a few SFX replacements. Some of them have shown up in other wads experienced in the ERIA, but the plasma and rocket sounds are entirely new to me. And guess what, while the plasma sound is less persistent than the vanilla one, it's even more annoying! 5/10 Spoiler Spoiler After getting another Skulltag wad (I really should just automatically ignore all of these but I downloaded one the other day which probably screwed the algorithim slightly so I had to try again. Plutoned (2014) by Memfis (Crispy Doom) Memfis is someone we were quite unfortunate to lose, mainly because he was master of the vibe check (along with Tarnsmas), despite the fact that he was an incredibly active speedrunner. Despite making the occasional exceedingly difficult slaughter map like Love you with Poison, he mostly tended toward smaller maps which relied on purposeful enemy placement and tight ammo restrictions. But despite the name of the map set, it can be played in Doom II, which I'm pretty sure is not technically an allowed use of Plutonian resources (which show up in the second map especially) but in any case, this can be thought of as a mild Plutonia homage in a general sense. Map 09 obviously takes cues from Speed with the layout and texture choices but on the other hand, the fence near the end is a slight homage to courtyard. That's quite the deceivingly nasty trap at the yellow key though. A Revenant comes from the side but directly in front at a revealed rocket launcher is a Cacodemon and a Pain Elemental, along with a newly-spawned chaingunner that ended up killing me. Map 23 on the other hand, borrows the Speed of Doom skybox and Plutonia jungle textures and melds this all with a slime aesthetic comprising a map not a whole lot larger than the previous one but in at least one location (the outdoor trench immediately beyond the blue key door) far more dangerous. Although perhaps one shouldn't rush too much here, the Arch-vile overseeing everything must be minded unless you want to find your briquetted corpse sticking to a hill half a mile off. Once that's over with, we'll be in a much stronger position, although again, a sneak chaingunner was responsible for a death here. The end product is something not wholly Plutonian perhaps (the sadism is scattered at best and the Casalis made sure to use numbers in an effective manner, whereas Memfis clearly prefers something a little more concise, beyond the spots where you gun through multiple groups of Imps. Yet, there's also little reason to avoid it if you like playing Squonker maps or anything along the small and intense side of things 7.5/10 2 Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted March 15 12 hours ago, Roofi said: Place of 2 DOOM Deaths by Tommie Quick (1998) Mh... Aren't this the DM map from the early beta version of Quake? I remember the corridor opening to the courtyard with the metal bars in the first screenshot... 1 Share this post Link to post
Clippy Posted March 15 80?!?! Holy crap u guys well after 3 months I'm back and here is one of a few adventures coming on: SARGE CITY by Jim Donovan : https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/s-u/sargcity It's a 1995 confused Doom 2 map in the E1M1 slot lol not much to say - this is standard 90s jank - a roster of mostly shotgunners - a crap pile of weapons and one random archvile - nonsensical progression and unmarked doors and exits yeah really standard screwed up 90s fare lol I have a couple more adventures coming on the weekend - stay tuned! 4 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 15 Year 2 Month 11 Day 01 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Ciudad Empresarial by @Cacodemon187 (2023) Quote Quote Ciudad Empresarial is a vanilla map inspired by the early city levels of A.L.T. and my own previous works, most notably El Viaje de Diciembre. There is a love relationship I can't explain between spanish mappers and city-themed levels. Its author said he was inspired by the early city maps from A.L.T but for my part, this map gave me strong Garrulismo vibes due to the spanish title, the vanilla compatibility and the overall "classic" visuals materialized by the heavy usage of stock resources. The pick-up sound reminded me of Sacrement instead, which is another masterpiece from the russian doom community beside A.L.T. "Ciudad Empresial" makes you start in a tall building under the sunset. This combined with the sweet midi and the cozy colors such as beige STUCCO textures or red bricks provides a feeling of well-being. However, you just have to cross the first corridors to realize that Cacodemon187 didn't neglect the challenge. The first traps amuse me because they consist to many hidden doors that open by surprise in order to release load of zombies, specifically chainies. The first area is really cramped but the tight corridors are counterbalanced with spacious courtyards which really highlight the tall architecture of this map. Some areas reminded me of "Altitude" by Tourniquet, which is a compliment on my part. But I have to admit that my favourite zone was the living room with its large table made of STEPTOP occupied by several angry barons, and the playroom located just next. Overall "Ciudad Empresarial". is a more refined version of the old-school city maps. It delivers a modern gameplay without sacrificing realism. Fighting in an alley against arachnotrons, starting out in an apartment, seeing doomcute everywhere, all contribute strongly to the map's immersion and story-telling.I'd also like to add that there are custom sounds for the weapons, which immediately hark back to the 1990s. It was a lovely city-themed map. Grade : A (17/20) [2] Immoral Conduct - ZDoom Edition by Cory Whittle (2005) Quote Quote The ZDoom DeHackEd version of the popular Immoral Conduct. Doesn't contain reloading, and half the weapons are missing, but it's still a blast. -WildWeasel "Immoral Conduct" is a mod I never heard about but from what I played, it's nothing more than one of the countless old weapons mods which take the sprites and other assets from other games. Let's list the changes : - Your pistol has been replaced by powerful akimbo pistols. Surprising, but it's one of the most effective weapons because it's still very accurate, and pistol ammunition is usually plentiful. - The shotgun had been replaced by the one from Duke Nukem 3D. It shoots two shells instead of one. Cool. - The SSG became an automatic shotgun. Probably the most reliable weapon in the mod along with the double pistols. - Your chaingun is now an uzi from Shadow Warrior. It looks badass for sure but has poor accuracy and deal few damages. Can be useful if you want to stun your enemies. - Your RL has been swapped for the grenade launcher from the same game. Pretty useful in large zones but the best way to kill yourself in rather cramped areas. Just a clunkier version of the RL with projectiles that are subjected to gravity and bounce fast. - The Plasma gun is now an assault rifle with a ridiculous firerate but is lock on burst mode for some reasons. I don't like it. I want my PG back ! - And the sniper from "Half Life : Opposing Force" is your BFG now. Or not. Each shot costs 10 cells. Some monsters have been alterated too. Hell Knights became Barons. Barons are now bigger and stronger than ever before. And Cyberdemons now shoot deadly lasers with their high technology railgun. Without the invulnerability sphere , I would have been dead in map 08. [3] do the job by Michael Krause (1997) Quote I once read in the cacowards that Michael Krause was well-known for his obsession with megastructures rather than detailing. After playing "do the job", I can totally validate this statement. Without exagerrating, "do the job" could be an exemple of "What if Insane_Gazebo made Sunder in the 90's and not at the end of the 00's"? Of course, "do the job" is far from being a slaughtermap but Michael relies a lot on square structures in order to optimize the linedefs and respect the vanilla limits as this map contains lots of enormous zones. Detailing them would result to mandatry VPOs. To be honest, this is far from the first map to feature large-scale structures, but this one and perhaps others by the same author are astonishing in their consistency. Many old, large maps tend to be extremely empty and misshapen, whereas this one manages to retain a great consistency. "Do the job" can be roughly portrayed as a massive brutalist base replacing map 31. Krause's architecture tends to be copy-pasted. I'm generally not a big fan when a mapper religiously uses Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V in order to increase the size of his map. but I have to admit that the use of this technique is relevant in this case, as the final result is very harmonious and controlled. I'd also add that the texturing is much cleaner than what I'm used to seeing in old wads of this kind, even if the map itself doesn't sparkle as much as a Likka Keranen or Adelusion ones'. "Do the job" teaches you that vanilla compatibility doesn't make it impossible to design large spaces, provided you're sparing with details. About the gameplay, I can say it's quite uncreative and repetitive to not say boring. In spite of not being irritating, most of the combats are mundane because it doesn't contain any elaborated traps. Most of the encounters consist to placed monsters waiting to be killed and some waves of not really threatening monsters teleporting at times. The progression is nothing more than a succession of switches, which actually reminds me directly of Sunder. This map takes 20 minutes to beat. I think it could have been shorter but It gave me time to admire the architecture, which is by miles the map's strongest point. It's a technical showcase for its time. Grade : B (14/20) [4] Palace of the Beast by Thrain Shadbolt (2005) Quote Quote It's been two long months since you sent the evil A well-crafted 1994 map. The first you"ll notice is the fancy titlepic which would fit like a glove in a modern vanilla megawad such as Doom the way ID did or Interception. The map itself contains a hellish custom sky I've never seen before. This map replaces E1M5, probably for the music. Like 99% of the maps made in 1994, "Palace of the Beast" follows no direction in terms of theming. Yeah, it vaguely resembles to a Palace, specifically because of the large dining room at the end of the map but concrete, rustic marbre and high-tech computers live together. It makes no sense but everything is possible in Doom ! However, Thrain put a lot of efforts on the aesthetics so that each theme present in this level is worth visiting. The octogonal tech room located at the centre of the map, housing many switches and a Spider Mastermind represents the main landmark of the map and my favourite setpiece from it. The rest of the map isn't as striking visually-speaking, but "Palace of the Beast" still provides a similar experience to Ultimate Doom because it offers a good dose of horizontal exploration. Just exploring from place to place can be enough to keep interest in the map. About the gameplay, you may not be surprise If I say this map is ridiculously easy compared to modern standards, but it does show that the placement of monsters is not a matter of arbitrary choice, and that certain traps help to generate a sense of insecurity. For instance, some surprise crushers will be activated if you enter in the "bedrooms". Those are easy to dodge but can cause a small jumpscare in case you feel a bit too confident. Honestly, I could replace one of the bad maps from the third episode of Doom with "Palace of the Beast". It wouldn't be the best of the entire IWAD, but it's of similar quality. Grade : B (13/20) I failed at the platforming section of @ GY@NT M@P and ended up melting in the lava. Quote 4 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 15 Chill 3 (2011) by Nautilus (From Doom with Love) Not some godawful Chillax predecessor (thank the fucking lord) but a series of 9 largely tech-themed and rectangular-shaped deathmatch maps it's hard to find complaints about, beyond the visual style being perhaps a bit too plain, other than the last one which adds vined outer walls and brown inner ones to switch the theme up some. Ralphis and RottKing also contributed a guest map each but while I can't say too much about the former (did he seriously just reskin one or two rooms of Command Control?) RottKing's ranks towards the top in the set. All the same, it's easy enough to tell this wasn't about to light fires under anyone 5/10 Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler 2 Share this post Link to post
