Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #010

[ICID]

 

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 2 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 they are resources or unplayable stuff, so we focus on looking for WADs.

 

The event is named after its originator, fearless leader and WAD reviewer par excellence Endless, but I am helping to run things for the time being.

 

So, what do we do here?

1. We/I try to play at least 5 (or more if you can) random WADs on /idgames. For that, we use the Random File feature.
2. We comment/review the WADs for the duration of the two-week event. There’s no required pacing (you can do all 5 on the first day if you want), but most of us post a review once every 1-2 days.
3. Please take screenshots or video of your adventures.
4. Play however you want, on any skill level, as long as you play the WAD as intended/in working shape.
5. Avoid shitting on people’s work and try to review in a respectful manner. Of course, we can all have a good laugh if we find something odd.

 

What kind of WADs are we looking for?

Mostly singleplayer Doom or Heretic WADs that work in your sourceport(s) of choice. You can skip DM WADs if you don’t have anyone to play with. I also pull at least 7 random WADs for the event and add them here. Feel free to play them with me if you wish, or look for your own! The point of the event ifs to encourage you to explore this vast, random world.

 

Tips/recommendations for commenting/reviewing:

Spoiler

1. Always provide both the name of the WAD and a link to the file. Very important.
2. Providing the name of the author is also good form, especially if you know their work.
3. Commenting the source port and skill-level is not required, but provides helpful context to your review.
4. Try to stick to no more than 1 WAD per day to avoid burnout, but this part’s all up to you, champ!
5. As mentioned above, screenshots or videos are awesome.
6. 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:

1. No Way Out
2. Blood Mountain Part One
3. Outpost Recon
4. Weirdo Bizarre, or: An Acid Trip Through Time (WARNING: this one is a jokewad and according to idgames reviews there’s a lot of strobing visual effects that may cause seizures if you have photosensitive epilepsy.)
5. Future Unveiled: Ceartainly Trouble
6. Wages of Sin
7. By the Pain I See In Others
8. Sungod

 

Spoiler

The Top 10 (out of 22)

 

1. @Roofi | 940
2. @Sena | 370
3. @Walter confetti | 235
4. @Endless | 205
5. @Maribo | 145
6. @smeghammer | 125
7. @LUISDooM | 110
8. @ICID | 90
9. @Misty | 75
10. @Biodegradable | 65

 

Join the Doom Master Wadazine community for more events like this! » https://discord.gg/Q2RKn4J

 

» Previous adventures:

Spoiler

1. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #001

2. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #002

3. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #003

4. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #004

5. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #005

6. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #006

7. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #007

8. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #008

9. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #009

 

[smeghammer]

Well, I've been a bit lax in playing this game recently - I've been busy with my smeghammer website, in particular the Realm 667 mirror browser. So I took a bit of time off to do another one:

 

it's Grinder, by Thomas Bringle from 2000.

 

I played UV, freelook, no jump, no save, one death:

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/g-i/grinder

 

It's basically a bunch of square rooms with various monsters, but it's actually pretty fun and challenging. I got softlocked for the megasphere cage, so I restarted when I died there...

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by smeghammer
forgot author credit

[Walter confetti]

Already played some of these maps long time ago (weirdo bizarre and sungod) i recall that sungod was really good for a 1994 map, even wanted to that chaotic Doom maps thread that was around there some time ago....

Edited July 2, 2021 by Walter confetti

[ICID]

No Way Out (2016) by Alex Q

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: gzdoom}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

No Way Out is, as far as I can tell, the only map by Alex Q. It’s a Gzdoom-y affair packed with scripts and “cutscenes”. It’s very ambitious and mostly looks pretty, but it’s also full of bizarre choices that I attribute to Alex being a first-time mapper. There’s green armor in almost every room, SS used as actual monsters, and totally inexplicable progression. Some of the scripts are also glitchy – for whatever reason, the door to the third room didn’t open on my first playthrough, so I had to restart the level to get linedef-senpai to notice me.

 

 

Despite the text file saying that the author trying to make the map challenging and “not just a gun, shoot, win arena”, I found it quite trivial on UV, culminating as it does in a fight with two separated arch-viles that’s quite simple if you know how to use the SSG. You’re also going to have to SSG barons at a few points, which is annoying, but not hard. Still, even if the execution is usually lacking, there’s a ton of ambition here and it’s a pretty impressive undertaking for a first map.

 

…

 

Okay, the above would be my review of 90% of the WAD. But there’s one other section we have to talk about. The fucking mirror maze:

 

 

To get the red key, you have to walk through a mirror maze that’s invisible on the automap. It’s full of monsters that are only visible when they shoot you, including invisible chaingunners. Navigating it is impossible and gave me a literal headache, not helped by the fact that the whole thing is extremely broken (as you can see in the second screenshot, standing in certain spots turns the whole maze invisible.)

 

It’s the worst. It’s the single most frustrating thing I’ve played for the ER/iWA to date. I only beat it using idclip, and even THAT barely helped. I know it’s an obvious joke to make, but I’ll say it: for this part alone, the WAD is aptly named.

 

Grade: 2/10

TL;DR: Ambitious first map mostly notable for having the worst room since wow.wad.

 

[Sena]

Day 1: No Way Out https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/nowayout

 

You ever tried troubleshooting some old game or software, and you stumble upon some video where they just used every single Windows Movie Maker transition there was, without any real consideration of if it actually improved the quality of the video? That's what this WAD feels like, someone who's used a couple decent mapping tricks, like narration and scripts, but they're just there, they don't enhance the experience. Truth be told, when looking at the core of it, the Doom part, the walking through a level and shooting stuff, it is severely lacking, with some very restrictive level design and lighting, the mapper seems to have a good enough understanding of how to make a room look visually interesting, but none at all of how to make a room ludologically (it's a real word I checked) interesting, I guess it'd be like trying to make a deathmatch level in the Eiffel Tower, as impressive as it may look, the gameplay experience just leaves a sour taste in your mouth. And, the mirror maze is downright repulsive, the map is called No Way Out, and I believe it, I think I accidentally walked outside the map, but I can't tell, and I really had no intention of trying to complete it in the first place. Also the whole map was glitched like when you walk out of bounds in Source games, which made it very inconvenient to ever do anything, but I think that might have been because I had to reset my computer not long ago and only just realised I was in software mode.

[ICID]

I'm starting a support group for everyone who survives the No Way Out mirror maze.

[Hyperdermic Needle]

3 hours ago, ICID said:

I'm starting a support group for everyone who survives the No Way Out mirror maze.

My favorite feature of the mirror maze is that half the mirrors don't mirror the player, thus making the player run against walls for 5+ minutes.

 

Also I just found out about this doomworld topic through the wadazine discord and I have to say that despite the inconsistent quality in these wads this seems like a really neat way to find wads that are hidden gems.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Hyperdermic Needle

[Sena]

Day 2: Blood Mountain Part One https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/a-c/bldmtn1

 

This one probably had the most bizarre page on the archive I've seen in a while, for one, the author calls it a "hack 'n' slash fest", which I would have to call a very inaccurate description since Doomguy does not have a sword. Secondly, the level only has one positive review, which was someone who gave it 5 stars, because other people complained that it was hard, and he hadn't actually played it himself, and when 'I didn't play it, 5 stars' is the best praise you get, that says a lot about the state of things. You might think that's just a bit of a useless tangent, but there's absolutely nothing to say about this WAD. You start in a room, and that's it, you can't advance, all the doors are keyed, there's no switches or anywhere else to go, so that's it. 0 stars for making a level that doesn't actually work.

[ICID]

Blood Mountain Part One (1996) by David M. Davila

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 2}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: this 90s map is grey, hard to navigate, doesn’t have enough ammo, and contains too many inescapable pits. The one thing that sets David M. Davila’s map apart is that it’s impressively difficult for its time – for once, a 90s map that’s not afraid to use arch-viles, cyberdemons, and pain elementals to their full potential. Davila, who made two maps before this but never followed up with a Blood Mountain Part Two, refers to this as “another in my series of total hack ‘n’ slash fests”, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because unless I missed a chainsaw somewhere there is no hacking or slashing to be done.

 

Unfortunately, there’s a difference between “hard but fair” a la Thy Flesh Consumed and being just plain mean. With the amount of ammo you’re given, it’s probably impossible to UV-Max this thing unless you’re very, very patient with infighting and willing to punch most stuff to death. Plus there’s the aforementioned inescapable pits, a mandatory switch trap that will softlock you if you’re not lucky, a really tricky dark maze that leads nowhere, pain elementals around every corner, and a cyberdemon you have to charge head-on while praying to RNGsus.

 

 

Worst of all, I really can’t overstate how ugly this thing is. It’s just gray, gray, gray with only the hurtfloors to break up the monotony – even the first doors are made from the same gray texture as everything else, just misaligned! Love him or hate him, at least Ribbiks gives you something nice to look at while he’s stomping you into paste.

 

I got to the exit room, but never figured out how to open the way to end the level despite backtracking across the whole map (I think?) You probably have to jump into one of the hurtfloors – that seems to be how you progress through most of the rest of this thing. Whatever. Congrats, David, you technically got me.

 

Grade: 3/10

TL;DR: The text file says “there is a nasty deathtrap in this wad” and that could refer to any of a dozen different things.

 

[ICID]

PS - if you get stuck like Sena did, you have to

 

1. Go to the door to the right in the starting room (it's almost impossible to see because it's a grey texture identical to everything else, just slightly misaligned, like this one:)

 

Hit the switch behind that door, and then walk up to the blue door in the opening room (watch out for a mean platform trap). The linedef you need to cross is somewhere around there. Then run back to the starting room and a bridge to the super lava should have raised:

 

 

Now you can grab the blue key from the soup.

 

Obviously not blaming anyone for not figuring this out. Like the rest of the WAD's progression, it's not exactly intuitive.

[ICID]

14 hours ago, Hyperdermic Needle said:

Also I just found out about this doomworld topic through the wadazine discord and I have to say that despite the inconsistent quality in these wads this seems like a really neat way to find wads that are hidden gems.

 

Hell yeah, friend! Feel free to join us. <3

[Hyperdermic Needle]

I thought for sure No Way Out would be the worst wad on the list until I played Blood Mountain part 1. No Way Out may have the mirror maze, but blood mountain has a strobe light maze full of specters with a hidden switch and is nearly impossible to navigate even with max gamma. Hopefully Outpost Recon and Weirdo Bizarre is a lot more enjoyable than these first 2. I'm also disappointed that blood mountain didn't have a blood mountain. ):

[smeghammer]

Here we are again! Another day, another - as it turned out - REALLY crappy WAD...

 

it was Academy from 1995, by Tony Bruno Eric Thorell (not sure whether that is 1 or 2 people...) with an extra WAD in the ZIP called BUTT.wad. Yes, this has Beavis and Butthead sounds. Oh, joy...

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/a-c/academy

 

Played with GZDoom, freelook, no jump and UV. Pretty easy with plenty of ammo and health:

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by smeghammer

[smeghammer]

And here is today's:

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/j-l/library

 

Kind of OK, large-ish level from 1995 by Brian Dehm.

 

Played GZDoom, UV, freelook, nojump and nosaves. 

 

It starts in a library room and spreads out from there. The design is reasonable, but there are a few issues with HOM on some lift platforms, and one of the keyed doors can be opened by monsters from the other side when you don't have that key. I didn't go through though...

 

I took it quite easy on this so it is longer than it might be:

 

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 02

 

I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I die/stop.

 

File 1) T2 by Sparky of KISS Software (1999)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

a single-player level for Doom II featuring new monsters, weapons, sound and music, and a few textures. T2 is a combination of several Doom addons including Theme Patch and AliensDoom.

T2 REQUIRES A SOURCE PORT WHICH CAN IMPORT DEHACKED PATCHES AND PWADS CONTAINING SPRITE DATA - SUCH AS ZDOOM, MBF, SMMU, BOOM, PRBOOM, LEGACY, ETC.

This is a modified version of T.ZIP (containing the latest file tryit.bat dated 20/4/95). The original author of the T.zip compilation is unknown, but the authors of the original material are:
Theme14 and Theme16 (weapons, monsters, sounds, etc.) - Werner Spahl
AliensDoom (weapons, sounds, etc.) - Marc Gordon, David Lobser, Mike Dickson, Dan Goldwasser, Bernd Kreimeier
predator.wad (sound effects) - Dream Warrior & Time Traveler
techbar.wad (status bar) - Josh (aka Phallus)

WARNING:
The original T.zip was a poorly designed and put together addon for Doom II. The author took two excellent Partial Conversions (AliensDoom and Theme Patch), joined them together (badly), added some stuff, and the result was a confused mess! Just to add insult to injury, the wads supplied in T.zip were bloated with OVER 4MB OF WASTED SPACE!!! Because T.zip was badly conceived and implemented, this updated version is not much better than the original.

 

A rather mediocre map that takes elements from the Terminator mod with notably new sprites for weapons and monsters.

 

This map is particularly difficult because of the large number of enemies, which have been modified to be stronger than the original. For example, the zombiemen can shoot plasma balls and are much more resistant.

 

Aesthetically, it's a 1990's map that looks like all the others with the Terminator theme that I've heard many times before. There's a lot of ammo, which makes it pretty fun.

 

File 2) NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Music Collection. Version 1.0 by Yukio Ide(JAPAN) My stage name is WAIZU. :) (1997)

 

Quote

Updated your DOOM2 music. MAP01 MAP02 MAP03 MAP04 MAP05 MAP06 NEON GENESIS EVANGELION world.

 

A small pack of 6 rather cheerful midday tunes from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Most of the tracks are particularly short, perhaps too much to be used well in a Doom map.

 

 

 

 

 

And I got haunted by dead Sonic in Sonic.exe(alpha)

 

Spoiler

 

[Sena]

Day 3: Outpost Recon https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/tolwyn01

 

In a word, this is serviceable. It has a weak start with an outside area that looks bad, and plays bad, which thankfully, via the absence of any ammunition or weaponry, compels the player to avoid it completely and get into a bland looking tech base with too much backtracking. With that said, the tech base is decently competent, the combat arenas have a fair bit of enemy variation, and surprisingly good difficulty for such an old map, though I would hesitate to call it actually good. Beyond that, there is very little that warrants commentary, your standard shoot stuff and get health kits and keys to get through, a bit heavy on hitscanners, many of whom like to teleport in by the dozen all at once, but it plays a lot better than some other stuff out there.I might not be giving a great deal of concrete details, but that's because it lacks any memorable setpieces, it's somewhat forgettable, and not really good enough that I want to put in the WAD folder and play it some other time in the future, but I didn't dislike playing it, which makes it the best level so far in this thread.

[ICID]

Outpost Recon (2004) by David "Tolwyn" Shaw

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 2}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

 

Click. Click. Click.

 

Why do we make art?

 

Maybe you make the WADs you want to experience – art for the author. Maybe you want to win awards or make something that speaks to other people – art for the audience. Maybe you want to challenge the audience in new ways – art as deliberate provocation. Ultimately, it’s a question every artist has to answer for themselves.

 

 

Click. Click. Click.

 

No Way Out and Blood Mountain Part One are technically incompetent. They’re ugly, frustrating, and at times nigh-unplayable. But I can at least see the intent behind them, no matter how poorly executed. Both of them wanted to be something and are notable for their ambition – whether it’s trying to tell a unique story through gzdoom scripts or simply trying to be much harder than the average 90s WAD. I feel some affinity with their authors, some understanding, some sense of a fellow artist trying to make a mark.

 

I do not know why anyone would make Outpost Recon.

 

 

Click. Click. Click.

 

The dirty secret of every FPS is this: ultimately, you’re just clicking on things. Click, click, click on the man until the man falls down. But the good FPS is one that tricks you – whether through artistic presentation or gameplay that engages and challenges you – into thinking you’re doing something more. Into thinking you’re having a transcendent experience.

 

I’ve never been as aware that Doom is just clicking as I was playing Outpost Recon. I killed 71 monsters before finding a weapon more powerful than the shotgun, and after that you’re still just limited to the SSG and chaingun. You have to shotgun cacos. You have to shotgun barons. You have to shotgun hell knights. There’s no clever monster placement here. No ammo limitations. No sense of progression or exploration. No setpieces to speak of. Just you and the shotgun. Just-

 

 

Click. Click. Click.

 

I despise this. There’s nothing here. No use of the Doom 2 bestiary beyond brown barons, a trio of impotent revenants, and a pair of mindless arch-viles. No interesting visuals. No music. No life. No spark. No fun. No reason to exist. Why would someone make this? Why would they release it? Why bother with the act of creation if you end up with nothing to show for it? Why bother to even play Doom in the first place. Why pretend there’s anything out there worth living for.

 

There's just you. Alone. Staring bleary-eyed at the screen. Rhythmically clicking the mouse until the fucking level ends.

 

Grade: 1/10

TL;DR: Nothing beside remains.

[Walter confetti]

Ah ah ah, what a wonderful review! I thought that i was the only one that puts a "war and peace"-lenght essays for shitty maps.

Too bad because from the screenshots looks competently made, pretty classy i must say... Also did Tolwyn made a famous map once? For community chest iirc? I have to check out the wiki.

 

EDIT: It seems that guy is a musician that worked also on Strain and Requiem, out of all things:

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/David_Shaw_(Tolwyn)

The map you've gotten randomly must be one of his weak works...

Edited July 2, 2021 by Walter confetti

[ICID]

1 hour ago, Walter confetti said:

It seems that guy is a musician that worked also on Strain and Requiem, out of all things:

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/David_Shaw_(Tolwyn)

The map you've gotten randomly must be one of his weak works...

 

Interesting! I deliberately left the author out of that review because I didn't want to insult the actual person. I just wanted to comment on the WAD itself.

 

Looking through that wiki page, it seems like Tolwyn didn't do a lot of singleplayer maps, and this was among the first, so maybe his later work is better. Or maybe singleplayer just wasn't his thing. But his music is great and anyone who has that many stone-cold classics on his Doom resume is worthy of respect, no doubt.

Edited July 2, 2021 by ICID

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 03

 

I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I die/stop.

File 1) Sharkskin1 by Zillo (Ziyo) C.M. (2019) @Zillah

 

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

My second map, which is so far my best. I've finally gotten use to the ins and outs and can make even better maps. My first was way to simple for an upload. This map was entirely inspired by the doom 2 master levels, and I've learned practically everything from the DOOM 2 Master Levels. Thos maps are amazing (except the ones christian made those are utter garbage and annoying) But Bloodsea.WAD is so far my favorite. This map is a simple one, just seeing what I can accomplish before moving onwards to more ambitious maps and projects. Any constructive critques are favorable. Thanks.

 

I'll start mentioning the authors if I can find them on doomworld.

 

Sharskin1 is a concentration of rather crazy ideas in a rather abstract and colourful level.

 

You navigate through non-orthogonal rooms of various shapes. We go through sometimes distorted corridors, sometimes very clear outside areas with picnic tables or even a small marble labyrinth.  In any case, the progression is quite fascinating with occasional surprises. For example, at one point you have to take one of the three lava corridors to get a yellow key. Two of them lead to revenants and a soulsphere.

 

I didn't really struggle but there are some dangerous passages because the balance of items is quite tight until you find a room with weapons and ammo. The beginning requires you to fight pinkies with a chainsaw in a narrow corridor for example.  Unlike a "Barrels of fun" type map, there is no real gimmick.

 

I also really liked the psychedelic texturing. It makes you feel like you're in a map from the 1990s.It's not really beautiful but you can feel a certain creativity from the author.

 

File 2) PRESSURE by XXLFragger (2000)

 

Spoiler

 

 

A short map that has no real interest because of the lack of challenge, the lack of a real setting or simply because of its duration.

 

It is a perfectly rectangular brown fort with a sort of lava ocean around it. When you enter this building, you realise that it's an almost empty room with a cyberdemon and some monsters inside. The monsters can be completely ignored by running straight to the exit at the north-east of the room.

 

The outside spaces are very poorly used. We quickly go around the building to get the key to open the front door. On the other hand, I must underline the rather particular use of blue, red and yellow textures used for the doors. These are used to create pillars. Apart from that, it's way to square and too empty to be interesting.

 

File 3) DAMNED.WAD by J.Paul POLVORA (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Well, it's my first pwad

 

A map I would have liked if it wasn't for some critical bugs such as a big softlock in the "crater" housing the blue key or the "doortrack" textures under the door requiring the blue key that were accidentally tagged with the action for EXIT.

 

DAMNED.WAD is an Ultimate Doom map worthy of the 1994-1995 era with insane progression and a fairly low difficulty. I don't have anything special to say, except that it's still pretty decent for a first map after all. The locations are quite varied and the fights are quite fun.

 

File 4) UNOFFICIALHECTEBUS CONCEPT by @TheDarkArchon  (2004)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

An unofficial concept version of the Hectebus, soon to be in Skulltag

 

Hectebus is the name of a new mancubus which is larger and more powerful than the original. It is dyed grey and shoots large purple projectiles that can resemble those of the BFG.

 

I played the test map and the health of the Hectebus does not seem to have been increased and hiding behind a wall is very effective to counter its projectiles.

 

 

File 5) I am Evil 8 by Dr. Beefstupid (2001)

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Quote

I think "I am Evil" sums it up

 

An extremely basic map that is apparently part of a series called "I am Evil". This map has nothing but a shotgun, shells, a very very long corridor and a cyberdemon protecting the exit switch. It's very boring but you can have fun doing wallrun to pass the time.

 

Anyway, I must say that the new sky is quite strange and the midi music used is particularly unsettling. The level has an eerie vibe to it and the totally empty areas made me feel a bit uneasy.

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't manage to escape the toxic liquid in time in Mad Mushroom Salad With Disgusting Salad . I died when taking the teleporter.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Roofi

[Sena]

Day 4: Weirdo Bizarre, or: An Acid Trip Through Time

 

Being funny is hard. You may or may not have noticed, but I've tried it myself at least once in these threads, don't know how effective it's been, but it's a whole lot harder to make a legitimately good jokeWAD, and for the most part I would argue most conform to the formula of 'drawn out cutscenes with difficulty so abhorrent you're required to turn on IDDQD as the only sense of comedy is just that they are calling people involved in recent (as of 2003) forum drama doodoo heads'. If not that, then they just make levels that are bad on purpose, as a parody of other bad levels, but it's still bad and not funny, and it's for this reason that while I'm always willing to give them a chance, I'm always skeptical of jokeWADs, because being funny is hard, making good levels is hard, so making both is very hard. I'd argue that this particular WAD isn't particularly good, it's got about 15 levels, some of them are just so short there's nothing to talk about, some of them have some decent ideas, whereas others are just plain bad.

 

The first level is a remake of E1M1, but with way more enemies and it's bigger to compensate, while it's got an actually decent remix of the music that sounds like it'd fit in Left 4 Dead, there's very little to say about it, you just take a shotgun, and run through the hundreds of enemies because it's not worth fighting them. Non-consecutively, they then proceed to repeat this level two more times, with slight variation, but in the last one, the level was broken so you can't actually beat it without noclipping.

Map 3 is the first notable one, having to navigate through multiple 1 unit wide switches to have a (quite amusing) conversation with an increasingly agitated switch, with a backdrop of some changing colours because I'm on acid, which stays throughout. 

After that, there's a couple boring generic maps, that don't even have the facade of humour, and also a deathmatch level that slipped in there by mistake. Other than those, the WAD's a big fan of wave-based gameplay, that is, here's 20 imps, kill them, another 20 spawn, then 200 spawn, kill them and find the exit, which it repeats a lot, and it's not much fun, especially when, as the OP mentioned, some of them are seizure-inducing. The level that replicates the music video for Take On Me is actually a really cool idea and probably the highlight of the WAD, unfortunately, it's a map that is all one flat texture so it's a cool idea that is fitting for its one minute length, any more and I'd have grown very tired of it. 

In essence, while some of these levels have some pretty decent gimmicks, they rarely impact gameplay, considering the point ICID recently mentioned regarding the fact that any FPS is distracting you from the fact all you're doing is just clicking on stuff, a good jokeWAD should distract you from the fact you're just playing Doom, and provide a different experience, but these really don't, replace the acid trip sky texture and most of these maps are just completely forgettable, not to mention many of them are unbeatable because of dodgy level design. If you happen to really, really, like 80s music, then I'd say play the Take on Me level, but for the rest of us, I'd say you can skip over this one, the epileptics aren't missing out on much.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Sena

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 04

 

I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I die/stop.

 

File1) Slaughter speedmapping by Zoltan Schmidt "@Katamori" (2011)

 

Spoiler

https://u.cubeupload.com/roofi/slaughtermapping3.png

 

Quote

My first slaughtermap, made in less than 90 minutes.

 

A map made in only 1h30 but which is nothing but a concentrate of fun. Moreover, this map has a very vanilla style, which is quite rare these days where slaughtermaps are often extremely detailed, even too much so.

 

The layout is quite simple with first a large grey corridor filled with monsters and then wide outdoor spaces that quickly become a battlefield.The level is very easy thanks to the numerous ammunition and megaspheres, knowing that the last fight is totally facilitated by the infighting.

 

Anyway I would love to see a multi-level wad using the same concept: vanilla compatible slaughtermaps.

 

File 2) Diet Vrack AKA Happy Birthday Pavera! by @Obsidian (2013)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

A birthday speedmap for Pavera's 22nd birthday. For some reason I modelled it after Vrack, so I decided to name it Diet Vrack. Heh.

Enjoy, and Happy Birthday to Pavera. :)

 

A small tribute to the Vrack trilogy which is very welcome. The "diet" aspect probably comes from the small size of the map or from our very limited arsenal with only a shotgun. Conversely, the Vrack maps were particularly large with lots of ammunition to create a slaughter-like gameplay. Also the atmosphere is darker so you have to keep more on your toes.

 

Knowing Obsidian's style well enough, I'm quite surprised that there aren't more oddities. The gameplay is particularly classic with a few rooms to explore, including a room full of crates. I particularly liked the  doors that require two switches to open (a switch act as an opening door and the other one as a lowering floor)

 

The last arch-vile can be very annoying to kill but on the other hand extremely easy to skip, knowing that the exit switch is right behind him. Personally, I didn't kill it and went for the exit instead.

 

File 3) Castle of the Renegades by Scott F. Crank (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Well, here it is and only 3 months in the making. Maybe now I can reclaim my life. At least until I start my first Doom II level. ;) I already have some ideas for that. This one should keep you death- matchers busy for a while. It's got sniper points overlooked by sniper points over- looked by sniper points! I've also set it up to prevent early exits from deathmatches. To see what I mean, try going through that yellow door before you have lowered all the key pedestals. I've included separate .txt files explaining the plot (such as it is) and some interesting technical points that I encountered in the making of CASLOTR.WAD. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

 

 

A large map that will suit fans of the "The Citadel" map from Doom 2 as you venture into a sort of large castle with an almost orthogonal shape that you can navigate around.It is however a map for Ultimate Doom and marble is the majority texture (which is not a bad thing!) I'm not a fan of the Doom 2 map 19 but I really liked this one. However, the outer areas are much emptier.

The first task is to figure out how to get into this building, as many of the entrances are blocked by numerous strange bars with an animated lost soul texture. These can be lowered from the inside to exit the castle. Once inside, one enters a large room with 3 keys on pedestals which acts as a sort of hub.

 

The map contains some fun new textures such as "Welcome to Chez Baron" or "Today's special: Human Kabobs". The music "Industrial Revolution", composed by Jean-Michel Jarre, gives a particularly mystical atmosphere, as if this castle was isolated from everything.

 

A little hidden gem of the 1990s.

 

File 4) dmsound.zip  (1994)

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These batch files are little utilities I threw together to make life a little easier on me. I have 2-3 versions of Doom running, and when I install a new version, and it has the bare bone sounds in there, that bugs the hell out of me. So I threw together a few things to remedy that problem. I also made a batch file to make a PWAD out of your sounds that you have in your DOOM.WAD.

 

A very old program that has no use today.

 

File 5)  Deimos: Slight Return by @ReX Claussen (2011)

 

Spoiler

https://u.cubeupload.com/roofi/deimosv1.pnghttps://u.cubeupload.com/roofi/deimosv14.png

 

Quote

Nine maps that attempt to capture the look and feel of the original Episode 2. While the influence of the original E1 maps is unmistakable, the player will note some significant differences. First, the gameplay is markedly different. While using only the enemies in E2, Deimos: Slight Return is meant to be tougher and more challenging -- more enemies in tighter situations; better balanced ammo, health, & armor; and better use of the tougher enemies.

Second, the map layouts are often very different from the originals. The logical progression has changed, as have many of the methods of accessing the secrets. I have done this while trying to retain the appearance and scale of the original, so that the player has a sense of deja vu. I emphasize that each map is built from scratch, with the originals only used for reference.

Third, the architecture is updated to current standards while staying within the limits of vanilla DooM. For, although players will undoubtedly use source ports, these levels are ultimately meant to be enjoyed first with vanilla DooM.

Fourth, the original E2 did not use editing tricks that are not uncommon in today's maps -- instantly lowering sectors, 3D bridges, etc. Phobos Revisited occasionally does.

 

An episode that aims to improve the original maps and in particular to bring a new gameplay that is more horror oriented in my opinion. Obviously, the iconic areas of each map such as the crate maze in E2M2 or the fake exit in E2M6 are reused in such a way as to give a feeling of déjà vu.

 

Aesthetically, the architecture is more complex and the details more abundant. Moreover, the author wanted to curve the layouts more by creating many circular rooms and curved corridors. Actually, there are a lot of good ideas of detailling in this wad. The levels are also darker than in the original. I actually like the darkness in doom maps, but this way of making it ubiquitous tends to make the maps too uniform and weaken the overall aesthetic. I would have liked to have seen some brighter areas that would have provided more contrast.

 

As for item management, it's much more stingy than in classic doom. I don't mind it and berserk is really fun to use in most maps. However, I almost ran out of ammo against the cybers in E2M8. The use of monsters is indeed improved even if it sometimes turns into a bit of a grind, when you have to kill several cacodemons with a shotgun for example.

 

The recreation of the levels is more or less successful. The maps E2M4, E2M7 and E2M6 are my favourites. The bonus map is much better than the original. I still hate the e2m3 map unfortunately and E2M2 didn't really convince me. The end map is much more difficult and exciting than the original with hordes of monsters to kill in succession.

In any case it's a hidden gem of idgames once again. A wad I recommend for ultimate doom addicts.

 

File 6) Next Nightmare by Fiend (2005)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

The sequel to New Nightmare. It's a dark level set in a bunch of different types of areas.

 

A brown base with rust and gothic textures but not only. Indeed, although the main part is dominated by brown, we can also discover mostly green areas (TEK textures) or mostly grey (SILVER and GREY), landscapes made of flesh and even a red infernal castle lost in the sky.

 

Aesthetically it's very beautiful with some new textures that fit in discretly. I really like the effects done with the midtex. The bright red sky contrasts well with the textures in some places, especially in the red key area where you face a cyber.

 

The level is generally quite easy with some generosity with the ammo. There are some places that are a bit more dangerous, such as the fight with the cyber or moments where midtiers monsters teleport in with an arch-vile as backup.
In any case, the somewhat complex and varied layout is more oriented towards exploration rather than combat.

 

A good map.

 

File 7) Dead on the Run, DOOM ][ by Greg Springer (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

 

A much longer map than I thought because you have to get three keys in a set order in very distinct areas.

 

The mostly square layout doesn't help to make the level very interesting. Each area is also separated by a simple door and doesn't look like anything concrete. My favourite part is the large grassy area with some kind of house scattered around, also with elements like a fountain.

 

The level is quite challenging for a 1995 map. The different sections are kind of challenging and look like little arenas where you have to constantly move to avoid getting killed. At the beginning, the chaingunners are the main danger because the walls for cover are quite rare. In another area, you have to kill a lot of monsters located on platforms on the nukage.

 

Moreover, ammunition is quite rare and this scarcity encourages the player to take risks by going to collect ammunition in the middle of the monsters. I almost died a few times.

 

An average level but with some fun little challenges.

 

File 8) DaScott v2 by Darryl "DaScott" (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

An improvment of DaScott.wad.. adds more levels, spreads the weapons out more, and uses all 10 DM starts.

Includes fun things like indicator lights, instant lifts, and of course the nasty BFG telefrag trap.

 

A compact and therefore very brutal DM map with a basic theme consisting mainly of metallic textures.  It's just a fairly large room with various teleporters allowing you to get weapons as well as move even faster.  Camping is impossible here in such a way as to reduce the player's life expectancy to zero. The different height variations and ways of moving around help to avoid having something too simplistic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I died after desperately trying to find ammunition in Back to 1994.

 

Spoiler

 

[Sena]

Day 5: Future Unveiled: Ceartainly Trouble

Can't argue with that, any level where the author made a spelling mistake 'ceartainly' is troublesome, in other words bad, and this one is no exception. It's got some custom sounds, which makes it feel a bit different, although they aren't exactly an improvement over the vanilla sounds, as is often the case. The first thing that will stand out to you is that you get way too much ammo, I guess this must have been balanced around having 4 players in co-op all having to share the ammo, because I'm pretty sure you've got enough shotshells here to kill 5 cyberdemons. With that said, shotgunning cyberdemons isn't particularly fun, and I have to say, neither was the absence of weaponry in this WAD. A default shotgun and a chaingun, and that's basically all you get, when there's 250 enemies, 10 rockets is nothing, especially when so many of those enemies are archviles, mancubi, pain elementals, hell knights and barons, in other words, the enemies who take a lot of shots to take down with these low-tier weapons, which makes it kind of tedious after a while. The level does look better than average, even incorporating a decent custom texture, a breakable window, even if a rudimentary interpretation of windows, since the texture is multiple panels, but shooting any one of them calls the whole thing to break. The level itself is average, it's got a decent way of connecting rooms in a way that's engaging, at least, when that's what you're doing, moving through rooms to kill things, because it has some really bad pacing when it comes to key hunting and the like, hope you like travelling across the entire map just to get to the red door so you can enter a room with two barons and have the level end immediately. Oh, yeah, and they didn't mark their doors properly, one of the blue doors doesn't have a blue skull on the door, rather it has a blue bit of carpet right in front of it, which you might say still counts as a visual indication that this is the blue door, but I cannot conceive why anyone would use such a technique in the first place. Overall, I'd say the level as a whole lies somewhere between mediocre and average, it doesn't really have any memorable encounters, and it holds itself back with its absence of any high level weaponry, which I'd argue just makes it feel artificially long, an issue only compounded by the switch puzzles and such, not to mention a bunch of completely empty and useless areas with nothing in them. If I'm to trust one of the reviewers on the archive, and this is the worst level by the author, then his other stuff must be actually good.

[ICID]

Weirdo Bizarre, or: An Acid Trip Through Time (2006) by Wills

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: gzdoom}

^{Difficulty: UV, pistol starts}

Wills is a two-time Mockaward winner mostly active from 2006-2009. He was best known for jokewads, and sure enough that’s exactly what Weirdo Bizarre is – loosely based on the premise that this is what it would feel like to play Doom II while tripping on LSD. I don’t hate jokewads, so bind the resurrect key, have IDFA at the ready, and let’s dive in!

 

Though there’s 18 levels, they’re all short and the whole thing took me less than an hour to play. So even though a lot of the levels’ jokes didn’t work for me, they’re at least over quickly. I appreciate that the whole thing is playable and avoids the crude or outright offensive humor of many jokewads (Ralphis is nowhere to be seen, thank goodness.) Some of the seizure-y levels gave me headaches, but I did laugh out loud at a couple of the gimmicks, so overall Weirdo Bizarre did what it was supposed to. And the creativity on display felt like a breath of fresh air after the last 3 horseshit WADs of this adventure.

 

That’s the summary - open the spoiler if you want to read a short review of every single map.

 

Grade: 6/10

TL;DR: Just say yes.

 

 

Spoiler

1. Hangwqereh: It’s E1M1, but way bigger. One of two maps that closely follows the premise of the WAD. Solid start!
2. Square-ish: if there’s a joke here, I didn’t get it.
3. The Intercontinental Abyss: This joke has been in a million other videogames but it always gets me. What can I say.
4. Dude, Your Ass Is On Fire: Also doesn’t seem to have an actual gimmick or joke, other than being a bit shit. My ass seems fine.
5. Flagellum Pomegranate, Revisted: Solid bit, but the funniest part is that 9 years later God Machine used this exact same gimmick, played straight. Perfect MIDI usage.
6. Imps Out Of Nowhere: Feels like a less funny version of a Mock 2 map. Impossible without cheats.
7. Liftoff!: The first map in this set that I fully loved. The crispy, broken audio makes it even funnier.
8. Toasty: Totally forgettable. Like 2 and 4, this is yet another map that feels like it’s just padding out the WAD for no reason.
9. Almost Heh: Even more forgettable, to the point that I had to re-open the WAD just to remember the name of the map in this slot. Yeesh.
10. I Am Iron Man: so dumb, so obvious, but I still laughed, so I guess I can’t be mad.
11. Take On Doom: Really clever idea but it goes on too long. The only level I didn’t finish because it gave me such a headache.
12. Zombie Techno Seizure Immolation Nation 400: Get it? Because there’s hundreds of zombies, in a tech base, and the aggressive strobe lights will give you seizures. All you have is the pistol if you’re playing fair, so I encourage you not to do so. Mock 2 did it better, again.
13. The Running of the Bulls: Another standout map – short and sweet with a great gimmick earning a genuine laugh.
14. Dislocated Shoulder: I think the joke is that there’s a portal in one corner that takes you to the opposite corner. Which isn’t really a joke!
15. Hangwqereh…Turned?: It’s the first map repeated, but now with the rooms rotated. I didn’t think this was funny until…
16. Hangwqereh…Upside Down?!: …this one paid off the rule of threes. Doing an “upside down” map is a genuinely brilliant idea I’ve never seen before. This gets my vote for best map in the WAD.
17. Flying Through The Sky At The Speed Of Light!: Oh, it’s a big caco swarm in a huge open area. Mock 2 did it better, again. Again.
18. John Romero Is My Bitch: The joke is that Icon of Sin fights are bad, but like…intentionally bad Icon of Sin fights are also bad. Oh well, at least it returns us to the premise of “Doom, but everything seems worse because you’re tripping.” The final text screen is a nice sendoff.

 

[Sena]

Day 6: Wages of Sin https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/v-z/wagessin

I seem to be having trouble this week. Oh well, short review, a nice looking E3M1 replacement, that looks like good hell (as opposed to boring and featureless hell), but the starting room has a lot of buttons and teleporters, none of which do anything at all, I went through, activated every last one, then did it a second time just to make sure, and nothing happened, so I had to give up right there. My experience wasn't abhorrent like some maps have been, but I shall point to the wisdom of the American philosopher James Rolfe - the most important part of any fucking game is being able to fucking play it.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 05

 

I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I die/stop.

 

 

UHFSNDS.ZIP by Jason Frierdich (1995)

 

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These are just some of the many happy sounds from the movie UHF!

 

A wad that replaces the sounds of Doom with quotes from the 1989 movie UHF. I can't judge the film because I haven't watched it. Anyway, just by watching the clip, expect some pretty funny sounds. However, like many wads in the same style, the sequences are too long to be played properly in the middle of a game.

 

 Some sounds are not from the film.For example, the shotgun sound is from Quake and the rocket launcher sound is a very common cartoon throwing sound that I particularly enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

 

I fell into a lava pit in the ultimate doom episode The Beginning of the End (part 1)

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Sena]

Day 7: By The Pain I See In Others: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/bypain

 

This is the kind of level that I find it hard to really say anything about, the epitome of "I don't know guess it's not that bad". The level starts off decently enough, doesn't waste any time getting into things, a fair bit more verticality than usual, and while verticality is a word I usually use, sort of implying that a level that has lots of it is inherently better than one that doesn't, these specific rooms are so claustrophobic that it doesn't really have that effect, just means waiting for elevators and having to climb up stairs as you fight in rooms that are mostly very self-contained. Still, it does open up, once you get past the bit with the toxic floor, which by the way, when I pick up a radiation suit, having previously observed a large toxic area, it would reason that's where I have to go, but instead it silently opens a door up above an elevator I've already taken, so I guess that was just them wasting my time. But, the middle part is the best, with a large arena with a variety of demons, demanding the most of the player, and certainly being the most interesting part, certainly a lot more interesting than the bit with the end with the cyberdemon who's too far away to actually fight, meaning you just have to run from cover to cover in less time than it takes for a rocket to travel, which is not unique to this map, and also not unique to this map is how it's not particularly fun either, especially when you're searching for a switch, and the ending is pretty abrupt. In essence, the level is a mixed bag, some good parts, some bad parts, but nothing that really stands out too far on either end, the author called it a "conceptual mix of many weird ideas", but without sounding too much like I'm full of it, it would have been better if he made a map that only included his good ideas.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 06

 

I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I die/stop.

 

File 1) K6S.zip by Cory Banket (2009)

 

Spoiler

https://u.cubeupload.com/roofi/ks63.png

 

Quote

Another sprawling and challenging level for even the best player Built using DCK 3.3 Recommend playing in Legacy or ZDoom.

 

A sort of city-themed map with buildings to explore surrounded by particularly large outdoor spaces. I enjoyed this level because of its complex but intuitive progression, its clean texturing and its sometimes violent but fair combat.

 

The layout is extremely square without being basic because the author is gifted to make the progression evolve. We often make stairs go up, walls or floors go down... Most of the time these reveal small groups of enemies or sometimes hordes allowing to make a useful usage of the numerous ammunition provided. In any case, the use of doors is quite limited so that moving through the map is a fun factor.

 

Aesthetically, it's fairly simple, but the grandeur and architecture helps to make the scenery pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, the areas are quite diverse, with buildings of course, but also underground areas or a lava-filled area.

 

On the other hand, I must say that I had to do a strafe-50 jump to reach the first house, which can put off a lot of players. Maybe jumping is recommanded but not mandatory.

 

 

I stop here for today.

[ICID]

Future Unveiled: Ceartainly [sic] Trouble (1999) by George “King REoL” Fiffy

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 9}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

I’m of two minds about how to review this thing. On the one hand, FUCT (tee hee) is an obvious labor of love and probably the best thing I’ve played for this particular Random Wad Adventure. It’s a gorgeously detailed with 2,458 sectors that warranted a performance warning at the time and takes place in an abandoned mine that, hey, actually looks like an abandoned mine!

 

King REoL mapped prolifically from 1994 to 2001 and even if you’ve never played his stuff before, you’ve probably played the work of someone who did, as his work directly or indirectly inspired a lot of the best of the early days of Doom mapping. From this map alone you can tell that this is a guy who knew his stuff – who knew how to build good combat, who knew how to use the full bestiary, and who knew to embrace limit-removing Boom as the future of mapping. Plus new sounds, new UI graphics, and even a fun batch file manual instead of a .txt readme. It’s good stuff and mostly a lot of fun!

 

 

 

BUT. There’s two big problems. The first is that FUCT forces you to rely on the basic shotgun and the chaingun for almost all of its runtime. As far as I can tell there’s no SSG, plasma, or BFG, and there’s so few rockets that it’s almost insulting; REoL might as well not give you the launcher at all. This didn’t bother me too much at first – a modern player might have more trouble with it than I did, but I still remember the days when Hell Revealed was hot shit and shotgunning barons was par for the course.

 

But then we run into the second problem – this level is way too long. I don’t mind shotgunning a few hell nobles, but there’s a lot more than a few on offer and not enough opportunities to offset that with infighting. I never ran out of ammo, but I ran out of patience long before I was asked to shotgun caco clouds, arch-viles, a room with four pain elementals, and more, and more, and more. By the time I got to the final “fuck you” – an exit room jam-packed with barons – I just wanted the whole thing to be over. It’s a real shame for a map that started this promising.

 

Grade: 5/10

TL;DR: This would be a real treat if it was half as long, or if it just got over itself and gave you the damn SSG.

 

 

PS: This will be my last review of this Random Wad Adventure – sticking to the minimum of 5 instead of my usual 7. I’m moving homes right now and my time for Doom is limited. But fear not – I’ll be back at the beginning of next week to make and participate in a new adventure!

[Endless]

Abyssal Speedmapping Session 48 | 2020 | By various authors | Played on GZDoom 

^{(It is supposed to be Boom-compatible but I get this error: P_InitPicAnims: bad cycle from GRUBBLE3 to GRUBBLE5 on DOOM Retro and R_TextureNumForName: GRUBBLE5 not found on PrBoom+)}

 

 

I had good luck and I got an iconic series: ASS. In this case a recent session, from 2020! This compilation of speedmaps contains 9 maps made in two hours with the theme of using only one type of linedeft action, monster-closets everywhere and no archies. Participants could choose two. An interesting proposal that can be seen in each map (although the linedef one is a bit irritating). The maps are of quality, even if they tend to have that strange tone of being half-jokes, each map manages to bring its own weight and are properly designed to be finished without major problems. The mapset is designed to be played on Boom-compatible source-ports and we can see some interesting additions to the repertoire: death-exits that leave you at 1% hp, Romero heads that explode instantly and some strange floating red balls that I still don't understand exactly what purpose they serve... but even so I shot them, they explode beautifully.

 

This is a solid, fun set and every map is much better compared to the crap that is almost always in /idgames. While some maps were a bit confusing to navigate at times, every single one of them is more than winnable and feel fun even with their weird themes. Would you recommend this mapset? Sure! And I recommend playing the entire session, they're great and a, uh, special value.