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Note to maintainer: This is a Doom 1 Single-player WAD
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Title : Lodge of the Undead for Ultimate Doom
Filename : LODGE.WAD
Author : Dan Patanella
Email Address : cu412@freenet.carleton.ca
Misc. Author Info : creator of Gatchaman Doom TC, Fordham.wad,
and author of "Maytel's New Direction" fanfic.
Description : The UAC likes to provide a little R & R for its
ace space marines and you've certainly proven yourself in the past. Of course,
given that this is a virtual reality slugfest, you kinda know that your
vacation will turn into a nightmare. Aliens and demonspawn have run amuck
throughout the vacation lodge, and you'd better find your way to the escape
tranporter before they make chili dogs out of you!
As you'll immediately see, Undead Lodge falls into the "imitative" folder.
This WAD evokes old-fashioned wooden hunting lodges nestled within forests,
so look for some nostalgic graphics on the walls of the Undead Lodge. There
are also some vaguely creepy graphics too, such as the Cat Door. You'll
find plenty of shotgun ammo, since this is a hunting lodge, after all - but
not a lot of the high-tech goodies you've been spoiled with on Phobos and
Deimos. Armour helmets are pretty easy to find, but anything tougher than
Green Armour isn't, mainly because few hunters would need heavy-duty Blue
Armour to hunt deer. And you may wish you had a BFG! Too bad. There aren't
any because there are no Tyrannosaurs in the vicinity for the UAC boys to
hunt, so all BFG's were left at the metal detector. <g>
There are some nods to modern life. You may enjoy the Barons-of-Hell-sized
videogame in the Rec Room (retro, naturally) and the demons carrying on in
the trippy Rave Room (you'll know it when you see it). Like my other levels,
this one is intentionally nonlinear. Romero and Petersen's levels were
nonlinear and I've tried to emulate them. If you have any feedback on my work,
by all means e-mail me at the above address. I'd like to know what you think.
I hope you have fun in this self-contained little adventure.
Additional Credits to : Len Pitre just earned more stripes for another ace
playtesting job! Len was also the first person to hear my pseudo-raga remix
of Victory. It sounds like a lost George Harrison b-side. <g> Len also
suggested the additional ammo needed to kill that nasty Spider Demon. Rez
also served as a playtester, and offered some cool suggestions, namely making
this level deathmatch-friendly. TJ Fisher's creepy tales of the giant spiders
in her dad's getaway cottage were inspirational for certain portions of this
WAD. It reminded me a lot of the giant spiders of Mirkwood in *The Hobbit*.
I was also inspired by the great Galaxia level, although Undead Lodge is far
less ambitious and has a much simpler storyline. Still, without Galaxia's
influence, I doubt I'd have gone so nuts adding new textures to a one-shot
WAD. And, of course, there were those giant spiders just outside Vancouver. . .
Thanks also has to go to iD software, for creating the fabulous Doom engine,
and generously allowing the fan community of Doomers to thrive. From the
grandest TC to the smallest WAD, none of it would be possible without the
Doom engine iD created. Thank you, iD Software! You've given us a great
hobby. With each passing month and the rise and fall of other virtual reality
games, Doom and Doom2 look better and better.
Hints and Ramblings : The Red Keycard is used to gain access to a storage
room full of useful supplies; if you want an awesome challenge, try playing
the level without using the Red Keycard. On the easier difficulty levels,
you can also find a couple of Light Amplification Goggles on the floor of the
Rave Room. There are a lot of secret closets and rooms - I've tried to make
them detectable to the naked eye of the observant player. Once you find one
of the secret areas, the others should be easier. Also, conserve your ammo
whenever possible. An itchy trigger finger will harm you more in the long
run than a Cyberdemon. Extra health is available as are some of the alien
artifacts (i.e. Blur Sphere, Invulnerability Sphere) but these are not always
easy to get to. Yes the finale is tough, but it's the dramatic climax. There
*is* a way to minimize your risk against the final baddie that involves
teleportation, but that's only for the faint-hearted.
The new graphics in this WAD were either from my own photographs, or from
public domain photos available on CD-ROM. (I like antique shops and like to
photograph old, obscure paintings in store windows). I recommend any Doom TC
designers interested in creating new textures to check out some of the CD-ROM
photo packages widely available. You'd be surprised just how many useable or
easily tweakable graphics are out there, just waiting to be turned into
Doom textures and flats.
This level was very nearly a Doom2 level, but I started redefining textures
early in the process and didn't want to start renaming the custom textures
and tweaking the level any more than I had to. Which is just as well. The
level might have been quite spider-heavy if it were a Doom2 level. Maybe the
next one will be for Doom2. I also think that the over-intellectualization
that comes with such a process actually hurts creativity.
As a trivia note, this level and FORDHAM.WAD were created as a holiday from
Gatchaman Doom, a retro anime TC I began in February 1998. In both of these
levels, I've been experimenting with new design ideas and the like, so you
might enjoy downloading the TC and Fordham.wad and comparing them. Just a
thought. <g>
Also, has anyone else but me noticed that the slide guitar solo in the outro
of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" is virtually identical to Brian May's slide
guitar solo in Queen's "Radio Ga-Ga"? Sorry, I'm *really* into trivia
tonight. <g>
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* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : E3M1
Single Player : Yes
Cooperative 2-4 Player : Yes (though untested)
Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes (though untested)
Difficulty Settings : Yes
New Sounds : No
New Graphics : Yes
New Music : Yes and No (a remixed and altered arrangement of
VICTORY)
Demos Replaced : None
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch
Editor(s) used : DEU 5.1; BSP 2.3; NWT; DMGRAPH, MUS2MIDI, MIDI2MUS
Known Bugs : Does the Spider Demon count as a bug? <g>
Seriously, there is a little streaking in the
videogame. Also, Len's informed me that my remix
of VICTORY doesn't sound as good through Allegro.
Rez disagrees. Anybody else reminded of the old
Great Taste/Less filling commercials? <g>
* Copyright / Permissions *
You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with
no modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic
format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file
intact.
* Where to get this WAD *
FTP sites: cdrom.com
Other: http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/6351/g_doom.html
By D3rpyD00dlez · PostedI genuinely enjoyed this mod with its level design and music. It was challenging and interesting and it kept me playing a while after beating it to try to find anything. though I would say it was slightly repetitive and overwhelming with enemies at some moments.
By LouigiVerona · PostedWriting a review for Darkening 2 is tough. It's a beloved megawad, and for good reason. As many other reviewers have said, it is historically a very important project. It was an important megawad for me personally. I fell in love with the first level in particular. The music, the realistic architecture, so reminiscent of the video games of the 90s... It all left a lasting impression. And it was one of the most beautiful wads I've seen at the time. But I rarely played anyt
By Ofisil · PostedA competently made map, for sure, but fun? It's way too long and repetitive, with same-y combat & ambush scenarios used again and again, and with way too much enemies, and not that much of a challenge, even for me who isn't exactly fond of "SUPER HARD WAD #9263!!!!11!. You can cut the whole thing in half, and then cut THAT half in half, and it would be a better map. Is it bad? No, just a little bit above average, mostly because it drags a bit too long.
By MrSkeltal · PostedGenerally good map design, but the difficulty as is the case with pwads tends to be uneven even on HMP, especially when you mix them with what slaughtermaps tend to be (monster spam). Too many parts where, after pressing a switch, you'll spend some time killing enemies only to realise the map maker tried to get cute and spawned a bunch of hidden archviles somewhere to start reviving everyone while you were busy wasting ammo. This is especially unfun in parts with very little cover where you'll b