Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #010

[Sena]

Day 8: Sungod https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/s-u/sungod

 

This map is basically a Ruth Goldberg machine, but not funny. The author boasts of its huge size and scope, 200 enemies, which isn't that much these days but I guess it was in '94. A lot more teleporters than necessary, and the level starts you off in the standard 4 doors, 3 of which are keyed, however, after a 5 minute diversion, you then pass into a huge room with a Spider Mastermind, nothing else, you probably wouldn't need this much space for 16 player deathmatch. Anyway, it's around some central structure, and you walk in undamaged because it's really not built around the SM's strengths, and the level ends, I think I only had 20% kills when it was over. There might be a 'proper' way to play, to actually go through everything and view every setpiece the mapper had to offer. But I didn't see it, and the fact the level has more buttons than a TV remote didn't help in that respect.

[Sena]

Day 9: The Lost WAD #4 (11/97) https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/s-u/tlw_4

 

Probably the most 1990s map out there, it's got everything you could ask for, the Terminator theme in a shitty midi for the title screen (and some other song I didn't recognise for the intermission, but weirdly enough it's just default E1M1 for the actual level), a blood-splatter over the HUD, which looks far better than you're probably imagining, and I guess the zeitgeist of the decade when it came to Doom was rectangles, because that's what these old maps seem to really like - long, rectangular rooms that feel like they belong to a factory in need of renovation. Beyond that, the level's not actually that bad, it's certainly on the better end of things, and even balances things out with a fair bit of visual variety, and the pacing's far above what I'd classify as typical for a map of its time. The only major complaint is that it's way too easy, because they give you at least 400 plasma cells, 2 invulnerabilities, probably more, and you barely need any of it, 100 cells would've been enough to leave me with plenty left over, granted with how conservative I am with my ammunition, I didn't realise that I needed to actually use my cells until there were 5 enemies left, as per usual, but it's not like I had anything to use them on, 1 or 2 barons, one arachnotron who I just chainsawed because might as well use that invulnerability. In conclusion, it's not a bad map by any means, I'll be generous and give it a 7/10 (and I should probably start rating stuff regularly in the first place), the level's got everything you could ask for, competent design, aesthetics, decent pacing that doesn't mean spending more time looking for some switch than actually doing something interesting. The level doesn't break any boundaries, and it doesn't break your balls, but sometimes a quick and simple Doom sesh is all you want.

[Sena]

Day 10: OMG!!!! WHY is PuMpKiNsMaShEr still Mapping? (OMGPump2) https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/omgpump2

 

Kind of interesting to note that in my search for a map that was worth talking about, I stumbled upon Marine Doom, the one you know, and also another Marine Doom, with that said neither of them were interesting enough (or rather, long enough) for me to give a review of any actual length, just thought that was neat.

 

To get on topic, they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all do it, and with a title like that, I was largely expecting to be largely disappointed,, but my expectations were wrong. While I'm not entirely sure what the rationale behind making the blue card green instead was, that doesn't distract from the fact this is a banging level. No fancy tricks, either on a technical level, or with custom sounds and the like, but what you get is instead an all around solid level, one that seems to have a superbly proportional balance of time spent in and out of combat. Ultimately, this is a very normal level, which isn't a bad thing, in the world that is the idgames archive, it seems the population is split: half of people try to come up with revolutionary gimmicks, and the other half make maps that flow about as pleasantly as diarrhea, so it's nice to see someone who is able to make something basic, yet still good. Granted, that makes it hard for me, because it means I don't really have any memorable encounters to talk about, but it's never boring, and it's very timely, it never commits to a certain thematic idea, or particular section for too long, and for a vanilla-compatible WAD, it gets everything right, good enemy and weapon variety, maybe a bit too much plasma ammo but that seems to be a theme these days, plenty of interesting visuals, and some solid cohesion. Can't say I know who PuMpKiNsMaShEr is, but I'd quite like to see him continue mapping.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 07

 

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

 

File 1) Chemical Station 474 by James Kurtwick (2014)

 

Spoiler

https://cubeupload.com/im/roofi/chem4741.png

 

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:This is my first wad for vanilla doom. I didn't test it with the original EXE but it works with Chocolate Doom. I'm not very good at detailing and it's a little short, but I hopy you enjoy it!

 

I don't understand why this wad has been classified as a "terry wad". It's a very nice vanilla map with a basic theme. Anyway, I particularly liked how the light grey blends well with the green slime. The level also benefits from some pretty clever interconnections, with pools of liquid rising and lowering to reveal passages. The architecture is quite simple but with a particularly clean texturing.

 

In terms of gameplay, one might think of an Ultimate Doom map with its weak bestiary, but monsters from Doom 2 are interfering in the case. A spider-Mastermind is particularly oddly placed just in front of a 64 pixel wide corridor inflicting -20 damage. A Cyberdemon is also encountered at the end of the level, but it is trapped by a line of block monsters in such a way that it presents no real danger.

 

Solid work.

 

File 2) ReDay by Sue Lasota (1996)

 

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Fun, kind of simple.

 

Spoiler

 

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Fun, kind of simple.

 

A deformed, bizarre map without any logic with a small wooden maze, a section filled with blood, and a blue exit room. The level is very mediocre even for the time, even if the numerous items make this map quite fun.

 

 

 

 

 

I stop here for today.

[Sena]

Day 11: Imp-ire https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/g-i/impire

 

Not too dissimilar to yesterday's WAD, this is basic, but still fun. In particular, it's got a real attention to lighting, so it is darker than most levels, but it's an interesting yet welcome change to see torches and lamps on the edges actually light up a room like they're supposed to, whilst having parts closer to the interior a bit more obfuscated. Beyond that, it wastes no time getting into the action, and it doesn't waste any time once it's started either, it's not the fastest map I've played, it's not one of those maps where you are always being attacked from at least one angle, but you're never out of the action completely, or at least not for long. It's not particularly hard, featuring only one or two barons, and few enemies tougher than that, although despite its title, the number of imps is not particularly high. The only real complaint I have is the ending is very abrupt, the ending room doesn't really have any of the normal marks of an ending room, it feels like it was meant to open up a bridge or something to the real ending room but they ran out of time. But, apart from that, it's still a very good map, far more visual variety than you'd expect for something of its age, good combat encounters, and all around solid design. The first reviewer, whose brevity makes him sound harsher than I actually feel, nonetheless said it quite well: "This map is not outstanding in any respect, but it's quite fun to play."

[Sena]

Day 12: Pandemonium Speed Mapping: Multiplayer Madness https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/p-r/psmm

A June 2020 speedmap, consisting of 10 maps, or at least, two WADs, a singleplayer/co-op, and a deathmatch, but I'm only going to be talking about the singleplayer one. I'm going to go out on a whim and say something controversial: I don't like speedmaps. As a mapper, I'm sure it's a lot of fun to try and see what you can do in a short amount of time, often with stringent restrictions like 10 sectors, but as a player, most of them are just really bad, and I would say they're bad enough that they're bad enough that they're not worth going through just to find something occassionally good, but look where I am. Regardless of how good most of them may be, this one, however, is several grades above, and I'd say that the level design here is absolutely peak, top tier stuff, or at least for the first 8 maps. Apart from the fact that for some reason map 2 doesn't actually transition to the 3rd one properly, when you beat it it just sends you to map 2 again, even typing nextmap in console doesn't do it, you have to specifically do map03, but apart from that oddity, I would find it very hard to say anything bad about these maps. Great custom music (except from when it's just default music), which extends to map 9 which has the Andrew Hulshult .ogg rendition of E1M8, and, consistently throughout, they've got level design that really challenges the player, they've got plenty of nasty tricks up their sleeve, it really puts all of your doom skills to the test, you're going to have to quickly eliminate large numbers of enemies spawning in a room of a limited space, manipulate the movement patterns of enemies to maneuver safely, trying to figure out how to not die as you realise you just encircled yourself like a dumbass, it's got plenty of memorable and interesting combat encounters for you, and some quite demanding difficulty, and a legitimate test of all your skills, rather than just throwing you into a tiny room with 10 chaingunners, which tests your reaction speed and that's about it, maybe I complain about that kind of cheap difficulty too much, but it'll stop occupying my mind when people stop using it in their maps. 

 

In essence, these first 8 maps are the pinnacle. They look great, and each of them are distinct from each other, with their own visual identity, they play flawlessly, and there's no shortage of variety in the enemies, who are all used creatively, and I would personally suggest that once you complete them, you consider the WAD done, because the other maps just aren't really worth it. Map 8 is a big mess, with far too much toxic floors, and a confusing layout that involves getting lost constantly because you didn't see the tiny switch in the giant hell skyscraper building, and it's jarring how much of a step backwards it is from the previous maps. Map 9 has the aforementioned Hulshult soundtrack, but it's pretty uninvolved, the other maps are all around 130-180 enemies, but this one is closer to 30, and while its design does try to mirror E1M8, it's just kind of boring, especially when accounting for the fact those two barons aren't much of a boss when you've got every weapon in the game. The final map is an icon of sin, which sucks, always has, always will, the closest to a good IoS map was Bourgeois Deathmatch, which just meant activating a switch so you didn't have to kill him, but that's not particularly involved,that's making the best out of a bad thing, the only real thing it's good for is scripting purposes. This level has enemies come off an elevator, which suggests to me you can use the elevator to get an angle on the boss and kill it, but I guess they ran out of time because it doesn't move, and the switch at the top does bugger all, trying to get the angle on that small hole to fire rockets into when you've got no elevator to use is not a good way to end your WAD. But, despite the lackluster ending, I cannot recommend enough that you give this WAD a go. I'm not much of a theologist but disappointment must be a sin, because that's what the goat face wall cube spitting dickhead does at the end of every WAD he's in.

Edited July 11, 2021 by Sena

[Endless]

Black Fortress | 2003 | By Christopher Emirzian aka @Udderdude | Played on GZDoom | HMP

 

 

Well this was quite the surprise! This is a ZDoom WAD from 2003, considerably old but solidly stable. While I was expecting something average, I ended up stumbling upon a map with some attractive and modest visuals that evoke a fantastic sense of dark fantasy; it feels like a Hexen map but made for Doom, with love and lots of demons.  We begin on the outskirts of the so-called Black Fortress, and we can clearly see the beautiful black brick walls that surround this structure. The brown color of the earth and the beautiful skybox create a tetric atmosphere that reminds me of a metal cover. In fact, I feel that the whole air of this WAD evokes fantastic ideas of power or even black metal. It feels dark, heavy and bloody. The map is medium-large in size but in UV it has over 500 enemies, all separated between different rooms where we can sometimes find some considerable challenges. Curiously the map is for Doom 2, but it doesn't make much use of the qualities of Doom 2; in this case the enemies and the SSG, which we don't get until almost the end of the map. This was my experience in HMP, which I must admit was a bit of a letdown in that case, however, it was a fun map that despite being of considerable size didn't get me seriously lost and I was able to follow a steady and consistent progress that carefully elevates the difficulty as well as varies between different rooms and sections.

 

It's much better than I thought it would be, and after months of having to suffer through the terrible random nightmares in /idgames, this feels like a refreshing glass of water in the middle of the desert. I quite appreciate the gothic visuals that emanate dark fantasy, as well as the modest but careful design that pays attention to detail, giving it an appealing and sincere handcrafted touch. For 2003, this is not bad at all. Highly recommended if you like this kind of visual theme.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 08

 

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

 

File 1) MEV1i.WAD by Michael E. Videki (1995)

 

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These are the DEATHMATCH wads for the first two levels in the MEV series, for both DOOM I and II. (The D2 version is recommended, as it has the Super Shotgun! Oh...and is a bit more refined.)

These levels are designed for BEST play with DEATHMATCH v2.0 (it's great, but never required...)

To leave each level (tally up scores) a cooperative effort is required by two of the players: a button must be hit which lowers a lift elsewhere, leading to the exit switch.

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LEVEL ONE The level appears as a rough hexagonal shape with a star-shaped lift in its center. Six irregularly- shaped rooms connect to the sides of the lift at different heights, and the lift moves continually up and down between them. Stairways and teleporters are also used to connect the rooms to each other, and allow for some cool sneak-attacks! All weapons but the BFG are implemented - this level was designed to be played without it. I especially enjoy running people down in the room holding the rocket launcher.

 

This file contains two wads, one for Ultimate Doom and one for Doom 2, each with two maps. However, these are almost identical with only the addition of the SSG for the Doom 2 version.

 

This is a Deathmatch wad. I particularly liked the layout of the first map with the use of different diagonal shapes as well as the possibility of accessing the different areas with teleporters. This level is particularly dangerous with deadly pits filled with toxic liquid placed randomly around the map.

 

The second map does not look like a Deathmatch map to me. Indeed, it is quite large and has many long narrow corridors. In terms of progression, I have the impression that the level loops back on itself because the exit is near the starting area. In any case I would have seen this map better for the single player mode.

 

Fun fact, the teleportation sound has been replaced by a flushing noise.

 

File 2) AODM by @hobomaster22 (2005)

 

Spoiler

 

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8 dm maps that I found within the depths of my hard drive, them being the first I ever made.

 

A wad of 8 maps in limit-removing format with new music. The latter are quite compact and simple but exploit brilliantly the "classic" themes: tech base, ruins, castle. The layouts are generally straight so that you can easily find your way around. Most of the levels give good ideas of detailing and architecture, even if maps 03 and 06 are too generic for my taste as map 03 consists of just a few square rooms and map 06 is a large square room.

 

Map 05 is my favourite because of the ceiling decoration which I think is one of the strong points of this wad. I also liked map 08 which also has a castle theme.

A deathmatch wad that seems to be of good quality and is an inspiration for "classic" maps.

 

File 3) NO RETURN FOR DOOM 2 by BRIAN KENNY (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

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THIS IS A PRETTY DAMN HARD WAD. IT HAS MANY MONSTERS IN ONE ROOM INCLUDING A CYBERDEMON, SPIDER MASTERMIND, ARCH VILE, AND MANY MORE! THERE IS NO EXIT THOUGH. JUST KILL ALL THE MONSTERS.

 

A large, totally distorted room with enemies and items scattered all over that contains no exit. The level is "difficult" during the first few seconds when you have to collect one of the megaspheres. Then watch the monsters kill each other and finish off the remaining cyber or mastermind with the BFG. 1 minute of fun before landing in the bin of my computer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I died in a map full of monsters in the deathmatch megawad TWANGO1.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Roofi

[Sena]

Day 13: Hidden Lab https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/g-i/hidlab

 

After spending a long time trying to find a map that was actually good, this is where I stumbled upon, a compromise that came from my impatience. In any case, this is a rather unremarkable map, I don't know what's so hidden about the place because everything's in plain sight, and the map's got no fancy tricks, in fact it's not got anything particularly noteworthy. Some standard shooting and pushing buttons, and as soon as you're starting to get into it, it's over, on 2005 internet, I would've spent more time downloading it than I would playing it. Only really noteworthy point is that for some reason they give you 400+ plasma cells in the level, but in what I can only assume was a mistake, it's after you've gotten 100% kills. When it comes down to it, this isn't a bad level, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's ugly looking, or poorly constructed from a gameplay standpoint, it's just bland.

[ICID]

A new adventure awaits! Hopefully I ended up pulling better WADs for #011 than I did for #010.