Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #011

[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. TOWN1
2. School Doom II
3. Phase 6
4. The Manor
5. Securitron episode 2
6. Doomsday
7. Plutonia 1024: The Plutinya Experiment

 

 

Spoiler

The Top 10 (out of 23)

1. @Roofi | 1045
2. @Sena | 440
3. @Walter confetti | 235
4. @Endless | 215
5. @Maribo | 145
6. @smeghammer | 145
7. @ICID | 120
8. @LUISDooM | 110
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
10. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #010

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by ICID
removed a DM map from the WAD list

[Endless]

Ooooh boy. Plutonia 1024: The Plutinya Exeriment is gonna be fun :P

[Boomdav]

Eulogy v1.2 by Mike Cyb Watson[played through zandronum with the supercharge mod on ultraviolence]  https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/d-f/eulogy

  Well ,off to a good start.This was the map where he began to put a lot more effort in developing his mapping skills.the starting area was quite intersting featuring imps then after hitting a switch,it revealed around 6 hellknights.After dealing with them,you can see a big a stairway that leads into a building.This where the fun begins.Hitting a switch there lowers some pillars that conttains 2 lovely barons and  a sweet SSG.After dealing with those ,for a while i hit a path block.It took me about 2 minutes to realise that i needed to touch a torch to progress[wished it wouldnt have been so cryptic but thats just a small nitpick] and reveal an opening who forked in two paths.One of the paths contains a small outdoor arena filled with rockets ,cacos and a cyberdemon plus a megasphere.The second paths reveals the red skull key.There was a nasty revenant trap that took big chunks of my health but i managed to survive it.Taking the key and going back to start repopulates the area with high tier enemies including an arch vile.Opening the red door reveals a narrow corridor and at the end of it the exit switch.Cyb puts here another trap,the walls rising up and revealing another archivile with cacos and imps.

Overall,pretty good map,had fun playing it.
 

[Walter confetti]

Time to bring back this thing, amirite?

 

The Manor - Michael-Paul Jakovlevski (Vanilla Doom, 1997, played with vanilla doom exe 1.9 on DosBox)

Spoiler

Ah yes, 1997 was somehow a really great year for Doom modding: Strain, Requiem, Dark Covenant, Squadron 247... all the good stuff was made during that year, really.

And from that year also comes out this raw gem made by this guy using DCK, sets in a spooky manor / castle with some semi-realistic stuff (Heretic E3M9 semi-realism, actually, but is still semi-realism) like a wooden big beds, a well of deadly wishes that works with the voodoo doll magic of putting a player dummy into a hidden crusher (pretty clever!), a huge secret throne room with a cyberdemon at the end of the map... overall, kinda reminds me of a raw version of E4M6 from ultimate doom.

There's a certain route to follow or you will be blocked for eternity in the loopy corridors of the manor. Bad thing is that this map, with all it's clever ideas, looks pretty amateurish, with misaligniments all around the level, but over this is a cool, tricky map!

 

Doomsday - Robert Larkin (and son) (Vanilla Doom, 1998, played with vanilla doom exe 1.9 on DosBox)

Spoiler

Another short map before i go to sleep, is this heavily rectangular layout affair sets in a sort of Ultimate Doom like castle/gothic structure, again. But instead of being a interesting wad like the previous one, is a bland map without anything that really stands out (actually, the only room that really stand out are been so filled of buildings and shit that it was impossible to make a decent photo of it), get keys that leads to unmarked walls, jump into pits of lava that luckily rises up to a safe point, jump into a toxic pits that leads you to the exit (why?), get almost lost in a pitch black rave lights corridor... it looks and fells older than it's building age. Yeah, it's extremly 1994-ish, and not the good 1994 stuff.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Sena]

Day 1: TOWN1 https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/s-u/town1

 

It was pretty much what I expected from the title. An old map based on the author's hometown, at least that's what the readme says because apart from roads I couldn't identify anything vaguely humanlike in what I saw, and with that aside, the gameplay is your standard old WAD. Basic enemies, basic combat encounters, nothing remarkable, it's just very lacking in detail, or very much thought at all really, maybe for the people who lived there it's got some sentimental value, knowing that the one brown square is where the local crackhead lives, but for the rest of us, it's completely unremarkable, it's got nothing of interest, and I don't mean the kind of interest you pay off on a loan. This might be a reference to a bank in the level, that one place with a bit of metal stuff and a desk, might not, in retrospect it's bizarre how many people wanted to recreate their homes and hometowns in Doom when you can't even tell what anything is supposed to be with these textures.

[Sena]

Day 2: SCHOOL DOOM II https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/university/schoold2

I actually played this one a week or two ago, in my Sisyphean search for maps interesting enough to talk about, but it didn't make the cut. Which is quite fortunate, since in doing so I now can share the wisdom of some Romanian bloke I'm mates with that the pictures on the wall are the Finnish presidents (why they're in some random hall in the middle of a school, I'm not sure), and before he informed me of this fact I thought number 4 and 5 were Friedman and Nixon, which shows I should probably go back to school myself.

 

As for the WAD itself, it's got a bunch of new enemies, ostensibly, this is a school in which I am meant to kill the people, who are thereby ostensibly teachers and students, although it's so white it looks more like a mental asylum than a school, but maybe that was intentional. Beyond that, it's got a bunch of new random sounds, some of them being standard, like a new pistol sound effect that is, well, a gunshot sound. On the other side of things, the women enemies make these very irritating screeching sounds, and I don't really want to hear that, lost souls sound bad enough. Also, a lot of stuff is just people shouting in Finnish or something, I don't know, sounds that you just hear sometimes and have no idea what was said or what it meant, at least Grezzo made things easy for the international audience, because, while there are subtitles, I think there's only so many things the protagonist could say that leads to Jesus yeeting rockets at him. Granted, Grezzo also has a lot of local Italian politicians I don't know and the like, but I'd say at least that WAD has a sense of humour, and if nothing else, good boss enemies, compared to School Doom which is basically just zombiemen who get their HP tripled. The level design in this is pretty poor as well, very little sense of direction, and a lot of the furniture just blocks your path, not to mention you're going to have to open unmarked secrets to advance a lot of the time, and moving through a school that contains multiple floors is not the easiest when they all look identical. Grezzo is pretty much what this sort of WAD wants to be, something deliberately provocative and misanthropic where you go around killing real people, but this WAD lacks any of Grezzo's flair, it's basically an early prototype, while I can at least say they tried, the ultimate gameplay experience is just, well, killing zombiemen who have higher HP with default Doom weapons in flat white corridors. When we consider the fact that the likes of Grezzo and Russian Overkill exist, if I'm going to play your vaguely-jokey-I-guess WAD where I kill regular people instead of demons, unless my firepower is equivalent to a strategic bomber plane, the WAD in question that otherwise features one enemy type and one type of terrain is going to get old quick.

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Sena

[ICID]

TOWN1 (2012) by Matt "TheBraggle" Napier

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 9}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

It's fine. TOWN1 is a small city map featuring a warehouse and, supposedly, a movie theater. With no secrets and just 45 monsters, I was able to UV-MAX it in 3 minutes on first try. If this were MAP01 of a larger megawad I might appreciate it more - it's fast, decently fun, and looks pretty good if you like city maps (which I do!) And to be fair, I'm probably grading it on a curve since it's TheBraggle's first map - I still recall last adventure's first-time effort "No Way Out" and its miserable mirror maze, so compared to that, TOWN1 is a masterpiece. But even I can't come up with more than a paragraph of stuff to say about it.

 

Grade: 5/10

TL;DR: The prototypical first map. At least all the textures are aligned.

 

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 09

 

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

 

File 1) Toxic Province by @DJShrimpy (2006)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

The theme is sorta... toxic-ish.

 

A pack of 12 Deathmatch maps for the skulltag format with the particularity of having slime liquids in the maps, except for a few. The strangest thing is that these liquids very often do not cause any harm, despite the presence of "poison" signs. So there are green but not toxic liquids.

 

The quality of the maps seems to be quite good, even if many of them consist of boxy arenas. Some of the levels use Hexen textures and these are probably my favourite, although I do like the brown theme.

 

Anyway the skulltag format is only explained for the weapons as the maps have a very vanilla look with little detail.

 

File 2) Ultra Sonic Sound Waves by Patrick Stage (1997)

 

Quote

This patch file makes the BFG9000 shoot ultra high frequency sound waves. These waves make enemies explode. Sometimes it doesn't work, but don't worry, This patch gives the BFG9000 infinite ammo! This patch also makes the BFG9000 rapid fire. I hope you like this patch. I sure do!

 

The dehacked doesn't work for me.

 

File 3) EXTRA GUNS FOR ZDOOM 2.0 by @Daniel (2004)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This file adds extra guns and powerups for Doom. It takes
the items from Heretic and Hexen. I don't know how to put a pickup
of each item in a level (i think you must use the ZDoom ACS Script
System, and I don't know how to use the scripts), but if you use
the "GIVE ALL" command at the console, you'll get everything. This
file could be useful to a future project of someone. Use just for
fun.
 

 

Extra guns for zdoom is one of those old mods that extracts weapon sprites from other games to make new ones in Doom. It's fun for 5 minutes and you get bored very quickly. On the other hand, you get a new statbar that doesn't surpass the original and new sounds that are certainly nice but also come from other games.

 

 

 

Dead in the first map of Quantum Strike (V2)

Spoiler

 

[smeghammer]

OK here we are again with another playthrough vid. Ths time, I got 'KILL THEM ALL AND LET GOD SORT IT OUT', a 3 level WAD for Doom 2. Yes, the title is like that, all caps...

 

It's by Jeffrey J. Martin from 2004. Not sure if that starting door texture is the man himself?

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/j-l/killem2

 

I played map 1 with GZDoom, UV, - very slowly - and it was, errm... flat? Although it did actually have a lot of height variation, it just felt - flat. Not sure why. Possibly the lack of light variation? Mmmm. Anyway.

 

It was very easy and I played through blind with no saves. The worst bit is the silly dying squeaks of the shotgun guys. ugh! The last section was actually the best part of the level as it felt much more like part of a city than the rest of the level did. Progression was a little confused (though I have had a beer or two at the time of playing, so it could just be me) so there is quite a bit of backtracking and running around randomly. A quick IDBEHOLDA sorted that.

 

Having been quite harsh, I did in fact play and enjoy the whole of map 1, so not too bad from an actual gameplay PoV - it was never boring, despite the running around and using the map cheat. It flowed quite well and the quite frequent texture misalignments didn't detract too much. No noticeable HOM or stuck monsters. 

 

I'd give this 6/10.

 

My playthrough:

 

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 10

 

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

 

File 1) flop.wad by Tanner McCarron (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Flop.wad is a very small, one room game.  You start out in a little room up near the 
cieling of a larger room.  Your opponent is in a similar room on the other side. 
To get into the game you have to jump out into the larger room.  A player watching from 
below will see you leap out and disintegrate in mid-air.  No monsters.  Lots of action.
 

 

A deathmatch map for Doom 1 consisting of a all blue room with a bit of platforming with rockets and cell packs to collect. Apart from that, it's too simplistic to be of any interest.

 

 

I stop here for today. 

[Walter confetti]

I tought that i've played already arsehole but i didn't. It's a cool arena for deathmatch with a good flow. Played in SP just running around in it. A picture for prosperity, taken from my play in DosBox.

... Yeah, i don't have that much to talk about this map.

 

ANYWAY

 

phase 6 by Brian James Clever (...interesting name) - Vanilla Doom 2, 1996, played on Doom2.exe 1.9 with DosBox

Spoiler

 

A pretty intricate and puzzling map in that charming KDiTD style filled of STARTAN3, Nukage, Barrels and lots of action (as well with lots of deaths) and puzzle elements in this interesting map by mr Clever, some mathemician guy that made this map more than 25 years ago, making this a pretty cool and fun adventure and a though challenge for the doom enthusiast. New cute graphics made with paint are in here too for giving some variety to sea of STARTAN3 that is this map. No music, sorry, but you can use anyone of your favorite music wads out there for skipping the "Running from Evil" torture if you like.

[smeghammer]

Sometimes the gods are kind, sometimes they are not... Two stinkers today.

 

First, a graphics and sound replacement called 'Legalize It! (Peace Not Prisons, End The Drug War)':

 

By Neil Johnson, 1995,

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/combos/legalize

 

No maps, just a crappy graphic replacement. No interest to me at all:

 

 

The second is a sprite by our own @Martin Howe - The Sympathiser, from 2008. Kudos for 2000AD/JD reference, but again, not really my thing:

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/combos/symthise

 

 

 

[Sena]

Day 3: PHASE_6.WAD https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/p-r/phase_6

 

I am not very good at navigation, so any map that involves lots of teleporters and switches and elevators which don't seem to do anything is something I cannot conceivably enjoy, even something as high profile as Eternal Doom is impossible for me to enjoy. And Phase 6 is rather the same, don't know what I'm doing, where I'm going, or what any of the buttons or doors lead to. I caught a cheeky "press this button to die instantly" (not written as such), but for the most part, you're going around ten elevators around the same room that all look the same and that have no discerning features, some of them are useful, some aren't, and even though I got to around 80% kills, I couldn't actually find an exit switch, because I don't know wagwan. In short, there isn't much to say about this level apart from the fact I don't know how it works, it looks good but nothing more, even for 1996 the author was overselling it in the description, but I mean this was from the era where people wrote descriptions that seemed to indicate that they genuinely believed that the video game commercials were an accurate depiction of reality and when they bought Doom the demons would actually come out the box and start attacking them. In any case, it's still Doom, there's still guns and demons, who are okay to shoot, a lot of them seem to be placed there rather thoughtlessly, some of them are glitched and don't react to the player, others are just explosive barrel fodder. In any case, for someone who enjoys puzzle games, you might like this level, might not, I don't particularly enjoy getting lost, so, as per usual with this type of map, didn't have a good time.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 11

 

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

 

File 1) Endless FRAGS by Timmy (The J-U-D-G-E) (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

VERY small deathmatch level! I've built it after playing in minideth.wad by Scott A.Smith In 4 player DM - frag every 15 seconds! (or faster) Made for old deathmatch.

 

A small DM map for Endless.

 

Very small indeed , it's basically a square room with a shallow ditch at the middle. However , I really enjoy the aesthetics here and espeically how the green and brown textures fit. The way torch textures are used also adds some singularity to the wad.

 

 

 

I got very dickily booby trapped in the DM map VOLT2.WAD. I got teleported in a room full of barrels while attempting to get the BFG.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[ICID]

School Doom II (1996) by The Pupils Of The Cyberdemon

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 2}

^{Difficulty: “College” (UV), pistol starts}

 

The premise of this WAD is that you’re an antisocial loner who gets drunk and shoots up your high school.

 

Maybe this was sort of funny in 1996. School Doom II definitely has a lot of jokewad energy and it's worth noting that the Columbine tragedy (and thus, the mainstream conception of mass shootings at schools) was still three years out. But now that I live in a country where school shootings have become a routine part of life and a not-dissimilar mass shooting has affected people close to me, I can’t not find it repulsive.

 

Should go without saying: I bring this up not to say that this WAD should be censored, or should never have been made, or to say that you’re a bad person if you enjoy School Doom II. I bring it up because when I write reviews for the Random WAD Adventures, I always try to ground them in my own subjective opinion and experiences, which is the only honest way to review anything imo. And the honest truth is that my experience with School Doom II started with me feeling a little sick to my stomach just at the premise.

 

 

That said, for better or for worse, School Doom II can’t decide whether it actually wants to commit to the school theme or not after the first level. After that first battle solely against students and faculty you’ll start seeing mancubi, spider masterminds, and lost souls with no explanation right at the start of MAP02, which also has the distinction of being yet another totally inscrutable no-automap maze.

 

“Inscrutable” is a good word for the whole mapset, actually. This is part of why I say it has “jokewad energy” – nothing here feels cohesive in any way, whether it’s the clashing hell and school themes that are applied at random, the new architecture and invisible walls constantly blocking your path, level progression that makes no sense, rooms packed with with dozens of hitscanners followed up by one-on-ones with a single imp replacement, new doors and switches that look like walls and props, the random appearance of UFOs…by the time you get to a final boss that’s just a squished, slower Cyberdemon, your eyes will be permanently sprained from rolling too much.

 

 

If you’re going to introduce heavy subject matter into your work, you should probably have a reason to do so. As Sena pointed out, you know what Grezzo 2’s deal is. Its only aspiration is to be dumb, offensive, and over the top for a laugh – but at least you know that that’s what it’s doing, and it commits to it. School Doom II seems like it’s trying to do the same thing at first, but then it pivots to just being a regular, not-very-good Doom WAD, then it keeps going back and forth between those two, then aliens are there…it’s a mess. A classic case of knowing how to use DeHackEd (to a pretty impressive degree considering the era) but not why you should use DeHackEd.

 

Bottom line: I didn’t have fun, and I didn’t laugh.

 

Grade: 1/10

TL;DR: Impressive DeHackEd work can’t make up for bad design and a queasy premise.

[Sena]

Day 4: The Manor

 

Around here on Doomworld, I see a lot of people say that they don't like Oblige because the maps lack identity, and that there isn't any visual or thematic reason for things there, that a computer can't think about why it is constructing a level the way a human mind can. The Manor seems to suggest otherwise, because I would argue it's just a terrible map in every way, and it's got even less of an identity or sense of originality than a computer-generated mass-produced map via Oblige. I said that I didn't like School Doom because it tries to do things that newer WADs of its type do better in every conceivable way, but I don't really feel like they tried at all here, you would think it's bad on purpose. The sky texture is broken, without fail, every single switch and door texture is misaligned so you have fractions of textures when they obviously shouldn't, and stuff is out of place, the whole level is basically just one rectangular corridor, and stairs, and that copy pasted twenty times. The level has practically no decoration to speak of, and it all looks identical, and I only had to climb 6 stairs leading to nigh identical rooms to decide I'd seen enough, I don't care if there's a chocolate helicopter or the motherfucking Ghostbusters waiting for me on the top, this is just abysmal in every way, it offers precisely nothing of interest. I haven't really rated things before, but I'll start now. 0/10 is reserved for Terrywads or levels that don't work, and this gets a 1/10, it doesn't crash, that is the only good thing you can say about it. I think the level title must have been a spelling mistake - they must have meant to say The Manure, because that's the only thing it has a resemblance to.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 12

 

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

 

File 1) Lucifer's Temple by Jeff McMillin (2002)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

One of your marine buddies was kidnapped from a sect of devil-worshippers and murdered (yep, that's him in the rock-pit) and it's up to you to get some revenge... it's a lame, generic plot line but who gives a shit? i'm not sure anybody would worship "satan" in the first place... it's make-believe dammit! worship the sun! worship nature! fuck organized religion! sorry about that.

 

A Zdoom compatible short underground-themed level with less than 50 monsters. The gameplay is very classic but it contains a section where you have to jump on some platforms (where the Plasma gun is located). Nothing really tough here but a failed jump will result to a painful death in a very deep ravine.

 

I enjoyed the settings here with pretty large rooms or even some aligned benches with a SSG on a pedestal. Combats are not bad and you have enough items to manage them.

 

Pretty good vanilla-looking map with a sequence requiring the zdoom jump.

 

File 2) EvilAsh by James Moran (1996)

Quote

The finest Evil Dead sound wad ever made! (Hell, I think it is the finest sound wad period to come along since aliensnd.wad!!)And that is saying alot! It's big at about 3.5 meg!

 

A mod for Doom 2 replacing the original sounds with movie quotes from the 80's horror movies "Evil Dead". As many other sounds wads from the 1990' , it sounds silly and doesn't play well because of the length of the tracks.

 

 

I stop here for today.

[Walter confetti]

Securitron 2 by Zero Signal - Zdoom, 1999, Played with GZdoom 4.5.0 on Zdoom 2.0.63 compatibility

 

Spoiler

 

First thing, the good stuff: this mapset is pretty impressive for it's age, especially for the 3D midtex floors and all the crazy zdoom trickery involved, remember that this one of the very earliest examples of mapset for Zdoom, i wonder if this will had some kind of recognition that year... 

 

But this wad have two very fatal flaws for me:

1) Some rooms are really TOO DARK to play it and the old timey design sure doesn't help, looks like to play one of those 1994 maps everybody loves making fun of, thinking to what Zdoom is now capable of.

 

2) Some scripted sections of the game looks broken for me, for this reason this one was a almost unfinished play, too bad because this mapset looks pretty interesting...

[Sena]

Day 5: Securitron 2 https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/secur2

 

A level pack that replaces the textures and enemies with those from Quake 1, and also has a rapid-fire pistol which is definitely the best part of this WAD. As for those enemies, you will fight imps, zombiemen, and shotgunners, all of whom share the exact same model of the 'bloke with the gun who has no HP' from Quake 1, I forgot his name, who's at least twice as tall as he should be, and I think it goes without saying that having 3 enemies share the exact same model is not particularly good in a game like Doom, I also fought a singular baron ('bloke with the gun' from Quake 2), but I didn't complete the level so there may be more of him, maybe more enemies I didn't encounter, doesn't really matter.

 

As for the level design itself, it's Wolfenstein but with flickering lights. No music at all, the Quake textures make it look a little bit better than usual (when you can see them at least), but there's not anything they could to fix this shoddy level design. I got to about 80% kills before giving up, possibly being softlocked because the scripting broke if Walter's testimony is anything to go by. Almost like a central hub a la Tricks and Traps, most the map is confined in this huge Wolfenstein-esque maze, that's dark and shit, and all looks the same, and you will be unsurprised to hear that it's utter shit and a terrible thing to implement in a level, and extremely bad to navigate through, I'd like to think of myself as at least a reasonably patient individual, but I think if I didn't turn on noclip to just skip going through the same featureless, empty maze that takes 3 minutes to walk through, I would have ended up destroying my computer in ape rage. In conclusion, it's just a shitty map, it's got novelties, I guess it's kind of neat how you don't have to 'use' doors and they automatically open like in Quake, but the gameplay just is not there. I'll give it a 3/10 for at least having one or two decent things, so these maps are getting better, marginally.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 13

 

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

 

File 1) Exhale (You're The Victim) by Danny Lancashire (1997)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

2 player DEATHMATCH DOOM II level

Started off completely different, but then my maps always do. I spent quite a lot of time on both the playability element and the asthetics too.

Had to simplify somewhat because it was just plain slow over the modem, which it was written for.

I consider this my best level because it combines quite nice architecture with a lot of mileage in 2 player deathmatch. There are lots of varied shots you can pull off (some harder to master) - it's not as simple as it first looks :)

Why Exhale ? You really should know, but if in doubt try and catch the latest Prodigy hit 'Breath' The video says it all really ... };o

Sit back and watch the quick demo, then PLAY IT !

 

Another small DM but this one has top-notch aesthetics for a 1997 map. I loved the layout as well the colors used. Also , the music "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails contributes to the cheerful atmosphere. As many 90's wads , it contains new sounds and new graphics to make the game funnier than it originally is.

 

This file has also a pretty unique "Read This" (when you press) F1, you can see the portrait of the author and a "doom biography".

 

File 2) Nukage Dump by Mr. Chris (@Armaetus) (2011)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Techbase map replacing E1M3.

 

Very solid level clearly inspired of the original E1M3 because of the similar architecture gimmicks and secrets. However , the layout is completly different so the new things counterbalance well the feeling of déjà-vu. I think the part which striked me the most was the outdoor area  with the blue key and the kind of silos.

 

I have to say that Nukage Dump tends to be easier than the original E1M3 because , unless if I'm wrong, there is no deadly pit. Also , the layout is wider and a lower monster density. Nukage Dump benefits also of more interconnections between room which contrasts with the pronounced linearity in Toxin Refinery.

 

Aesthically , it's not better nor worse than the good old Doom but it definitely doesn't look like a speedmap made in 8 hours.

 

Very good classic UD map.

 

File 3) Ultra StarWars Graphics Wad by Jared-Michael Stein (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This is Jared-Michael Stein's Ultra StarWars Graphics Wad. With it, you get:
*Improved "Kenobi" light-sabre
*Shotgun icon becomes Imperial Blaster
*Stray shots smoke a la "New Hope"
*"God Mode" gives you Stormtrooper "disguise" (sort of)
*Armor bonuses resemble Mandalorean Shock Troop helmets (Boba Fett,s)
*Candle/floating eye is a DeathStar holograph
*Computer Monitors display more appropriate info.
*Improved laser blasts
*Someone else's fine Star Wars levels (E1M1-E1M4), with special more accurate map dispay of DeathStar and Blockade Runner (Correlian Corvette)

And StarWars GFX7 replaces:
*CyberDemon with NEW AND IMPROVED AT-ST walker
*Shotgun "Ex-Marines" with Death Squad Commandos
*"Ex-Marines" with Imperial "Biker Scout" troopers

Plus lots more gfx that i "stole" and improved from other swgfx.wads, such as:
*Barons replaced by Imperial Royal Guards
*Imps replaced by Imperial Stormtroopers
*Pistol replaced by Laser Pistol
*Shotgun replaced by Imperial Blaster
*R2-D2 barrels
*title screen
*et c.

 

A wad which replace various graphics with Star Wars's iconic items , weapons and characters. However it doesn't add new sound and I think it's definitely lacking. Hearing stormtroopers making imp noises or the lightsaber making chainsaw sounds was kinda weird.

 

Also I played it with Doom 2 but the author conceived it for Ultimate Doom because it doesn't even replace all the Doom 1 resources ! For instance, the cyberdemon is replaced by a AT-ST Walker but the Spider Mastermind stays the ... Spider Mastermind.

 

Not bad little graphic mod from the 90'.

 

File 4) R.J.G. Stark Base!!! Version 1.0 by Ricardo Gonzalez (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

If you are tired of complete the 32 levels of Doom II then you have been trained for this. The argument?: It's simple, hehe, You, 'the hero of the movie :)', have been teleported to the R.J.G. Stark Base by the Doom Team, (original, not?) and your mission is to find and destroy the Magna Reactor in order to exit of this level and (tadaaa) save this world. This level is an unusual combination of the elegant designs, the dark and hellish lairs, originals traps, animations and great and funny supersecrets. However this one is NOT a nasty and boring labyrinthical level, but it has quality. So... Can you get stuck off?

 

A pretty large tech base with no particular theme because of the very psychedelic design choices. You start in a room with a very extended use of the gray pentagram texture commonly used for the teleporters. The author put a lot of colorful textures like blue, green , red and the different themes don't really fit together. However , the strong point of this map consists of the varied progression with small puzzles with switchs to fin, long corridors , teleporters or even lifts to unlock.

 

The level is not that hard but contain a numerous ammount of really nasty traps like surprise crushers , teleporters which lead you to a room full of barrels or in front of a lot chaingunners, IOS at the end of the map ... You start with few health and ammo and you have to find some secrets in order to get a decent stuff (SSG, RL...)

 

The way the level is built makes me think a lot of a TNT map with random designs, questionable but creative aesthetics and a weird mixture of themes.

 

I liked it.

 

File 5) TELEPORT.WAD by Unknown (2006)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

A small level with some bosses.

 

A Ultimate Doom map made in 1994 but uploaded on idgames in 2006. It replaces E3M1 and it consists of a very weird level with a kind of underwater section with nukage texture used for the ceiling and a large arena with many teleporters where you have to kill a single cyberdemon.

 

The map can be finished quickly because you just have to take a teleporter and go at the middle of the arena. So, this map has no real sense but I had some fun. You collect many weapons and ammo so I think this map conceived for DM first in mind.

 

File 6) Augustus Caesar 2nd by Neil R. Bonner (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Pure deathmatch design. Well balanced placement of weapons and ammo. This level offers a real challenge to experienced deathmatch players. The more advanced weapons require some risk to obtain.

 

A little DM map replacing the E1M5 slot. The particularity here is that each player starts in a small room located high up with damaging floor which works as an anti-camp system. The combat zone has nothing extraordinary otherwise.

 

File 7) smmusic.zip by David Tam (1997)

 

Quote

This WAD is replacing the original DOOM2/HERETIC musics into Sailor Moon musics. (All)

This WAD is for DOOM2 or HERETIC.

If you like Sailor Moon, then you will like these musics.

Have a great SailorDOOMing!

A megawad of cheerful midis with pretty decent quality. It could fit for Doom levels , but I have a big doubt about Heretic...

 

 

 

I died trying to dodge ennemies after running out of ammo in FBase 6: Remanasu.

 

Spoiler

 

[Reisal]

Glad you had a largely positive experience with my UD map.

[ICID]

Phase 6 (1996) by Brian James Clever

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 2}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

The Random Wad Adventures are a great way to learn about the history of Doom mapping. They teach you a lot of valuable knowledge. For example: before joining the ER/iWA, I would have said that the 90s were an underrated decade for mapping, with output that could easily rival the quality of modern WADs. And now I would not say that.

 

I’m joking, mostly, but with good reason: I’m not sure whether I want to judge Phase 6 by the modern standard through which we unavoidably view maps in 2021, or by the standard of its contemporaries. Because by the latter, it’s pretty great! It actually uses the entire armory and bestiary of Doom II, has pretty well-designed areas that aren’t all one color, and is not impossible to traverse. Most of the complaints I tend to have with 90s maps aren’t here, which is a very good thing. It even has some clever pop-up monsters and traps.

 

 

Having said that…I dunno, I just never got into it. I can’t point to anything specifically “bad”, per se, but the overall package is dull and underwhelming. It provides nothing you haven’t seen done elsewhere and probably done better. “Forgettable” is the word, I suppose – I doubt I’ll even be able to remember the name Phase 6 a week after posting this review.

 

Grade: 4/10

TL;DR: Not good, but at least it gives you the BFG in the first room.

[Sena]

Day 6: Doomsday https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/d-f/doomsday

 

Here's a bit of historical trivia for you. During the Vietnam War, American soldiers would employ 'Tunnel Rats', soldiers who would infiltrate and destroy Viet Cong tunnel networks, which was a pretty unpleasant job, owing partially to the fact the tunnels were dark and narrow as shit which makes fighting in them very unpleasant, and the Tunnel Rats were given a very appropriate motto - Not Worth A Rat's Ass. Which is also a description I'd give to this WAD, I may not be in a literal tunnel so to speak, but it's as restrictive as one. It's a level that I'd find very hard to say anything good about at all, and all things considered, its issues are not particularly complex, it has two central issues. Firstly, at any given moment you'll be dealing with eight shotgunners hiding in ten different windows that are barely visible because they're so narrow, not too unlike the Viet Cong, and second, it's really narrow, I mean so narrow that it's genuinely impossible to dodge projectiles. They could have at least committed to the idea, I bet if I search long enough on the archive I'm going to find some mapper who thought incorporating trench warfare into Doom was a good idea, but they didn't, it's not actually a tunnel network, just Hell, and I suppose this is my personal Hell, it's far from pleasant to look at this series of rectangular rooms that are as thin as the aforementioned VC tunnels. It's got no shortage of other miscellaneous issues, like a lack of proper weaponry, which is only compounded by the aforementioned issue, nothing fun about getting locked in a room you can't escape from, with a baron, and a shotgun, and full knowledge of the fact it is not actually possible to dodge his projectiles, other problems include dead ends and completely pointless rooms, nonsensical level design because everything looks the same and doors become accessible (or start off not being so) for no apparent reason, getting hit by enemies you can't see if you have no vertical aiming, it's just a complete mess, with no real redeeming qualities. I know our standards for level making have changed since 1996, which is true of everything, but I find it impossible to believe anyone could have ever enjoyed this, this level is about as much fun as dying to a VC carbombing. Basically it fucking sucks, 2/10.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Sena

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 14

 

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

 

File 1) HSFC.WAD by David Quigley and James Waldmeyer (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

Lot's of wad's of offices and universities have been made over the years, and now with interest in Doom dwindling due to the advent of quake, we are ready to release the definitive Doom II reconstruction of a real building. This WAD recreates Hartlepool 6th Form College located on the North East coast of England. This college could practically have been built to be made into a Doom level. The structure of the college is ideal for deathmatch with many open corridors and stuff leading to deadly crossfire situations. All monsters have been replaced with staff and students of the college, music and sounds have also been replaced and a compehensive dehacked patch has been created to facilitate the realism. The level can also be played in simulator mode (1st 2 skill levels) to get to know the building. This wad represents almost a years worth of hard work and incorporates many recent innovations in wad design. Play it, be amazed, tell your friends, and spend the next year waiting for the upcoming Quake version.

 

One of the most elaborated university-themed map and one of the most unusual wad I have ever played from the Doom Community. Indeed, the two authors did not only create their university and placed some monsters in. They drew new sprites from scratch for almost all new monsters so that you kill actually real people, which look pretty gloomy at first sight. However , you must not kill students because the level ends with the message "You Failed" if you do. I don't really understand because the only way to win in a doom map is to reach the exit.

 

So , the pinkies had been replaced by strayed dogs guarding the school , the spider-mastermind by an attack helicopter or the arch-vile by a burning bus full of people. The wad also adds new sounds.

 

The map itself is harder than you think if you plan to complete it entirely. You start outside the university and the teachers and students can attack you from the windows. Also there is no ammo nor guns nor health outside , so you have to enter in the building with your gun and hope to find the room housing the goodies. Anyway , you just have to kill a student if you want to complete the level quickly.

 

At last, I think the authors designed this level as a joke-wad because of the Berverly Hills's music used , as well as the colorful texturing and silly but cool sounds and graphics.

 

Also, the university looks like this IRL

 

 

 

 

 

I died in a small vat of liquid that I could not escape in Trans

 

Spoiler

[Endless]

@Roofi Wow! You found one of ''those'' WADs. An interesting take for sure, and it looks like the authors put some effort into the jokes and silly graphics.

[Walter confetti]

Rhea 3 alpha version by Sgt Crispy - Vanilla Doom 2, 2002 but it's older (maybe 1996?), played with Eternity 4.0.2 forseti

Spoiler

 

 

There's a lot of wrongly placed uploaded maps in the archives from the Ty era (including this early map of mine that is actually a DM map) but i never thought to find a incomplete, empty layout of a WIP map in the "normal" maps section!

Magic of the random button, i guess.

 

However this is a pretty competent map with some really neat parts with the exception of the vent tunnels maze, but just because for me every mazes in Doom can go to the hell they came, with a very little exceptions.

 

But yeah, is a pretty good map and i wonder if anyone used it as a base for a remake / revamp of it...

Edited July 26, 2021 by Walter confetti
Added missing screenshots

[smeghammer]

OK so I thought I'd do another one of these after finishing mapping for the evening yesterday. I got this one:

 

The Apocalypse Part 5, by Rick Clark, from 2000.

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/a-c/apoch5

 

Actually a pretty decent and playable map, with some nice variation in height and environment. I had quite a bit of fun playing this, but TOTALLY fucked up the exit and got wasted by two Barons... In my defence it was late and the kids get up at 7AM regardless of anything.

 

Judging from the name, it's probably part of a multi-map set and it is probably worth digging the others. 

 

My GZDoom playthrough:

 

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by smeghammer

[Biodegradable]

So I decided to use the Random File button on the Archive for a change as none of the pre-selected WADs really interested me. I managed to find 3 interesting WADs from various eras that were pretty fun. Here's what I think of the maps arranged in the order they were played:

 

khill series (1998)

Despite its name, this is a single map WAD. Perhaps the mapper did in fact make a series of WADs and this is the first one, I'm not sure. The map itself is rather interesting with its penchant for maze shaped layouts that zig-zag about the joint, especially at the beginning and likes to experiment with a lot of height variation. It's a base nestled within some treacherous mountains and loves hitscanners. I wouldn't call it Hitscanner Hell, but there's enough of the blighters to make you more cautious as you mosey about. I also found it to be a little stubborn when it came to health pickups, so the combination of the two makes for a fairly challenging short romp. For it's time period, it's aged decently for a late 90s map.

 

Steamboat Impy (2015)

This was my favourite of the batch. The whole map is an exercise in DoomCute with it shaped like a large steam-powered ship complete with engines and all kinds of special details. The amount of effort put in to make it look like a steamboat is commendable. Sometimes the slopes on the walls are a tad annoying, but that's my only gripe with this adorable and well-crafted map. Lots of people have made various Doom boats at this point, even with the speedmapping project around the concept last year, but this one will have a special place in my heart for just being so gosh-darned charming in its simple elegance.

 

Tab12 (1997)

I don't understand the title, but according to the txt.file this map is supposed to be a recreation of the Alabama Theatre. It's another late 90s map that's aged decently: well-crafted, the theatre especially looks cool and the combat is a nice challenge with a great flow to it that'll keep you alert and on your toes. Definitely the best gameplay out of the three. It's also got it's own smatterings of DoomCute in it as well for good measure.

 

 

[Endless]

Clock Out | 2020 | By Derek "@Afterglow" MacDonald | Played on GZDoom | HMP

 

 

Finally a modern map made with modern intentions in mind. This is Clock Out, created by Afterglow for the Isolation community project, however it was released independently after exceeding the 12 hours set in the CP rules, and I can see why. This is a fairly large, detailed map with cool monumentalist architecture; huge combat arenas give way to rivers/lakes of acid with a multitude of paths, secrets and different places to explore. With a semi-open design in mind, the map follows a linear progression that allows for multiple approaches, as well as several secret areas that can shorten our paths and make combat easier. The demons are numerous, but not as numerous as you would think on lower difficulties, however, they can become quite challenging in certain creative encounters that throw us with brutal violence into the fray. Made for Boom, this map takes full advantage of the features, creating cool technical effects that pleasantly surprised me, revealing excellent mechanics such as a particular combat with Archies that move between platforms, or a fantastic platform that moves like a puzzle. Small details that together create a distinct sense of originality and appeal. Oh, and if we talk about appeal, this map has it all. Especially beautiful for those who love the classic style of stock textures; Afterglow uses them incredibly well, creating a cohesive wall of well-designed, modern-art nostalgic art, accompanied by a multitude of details that never obstruct our progress and a few cute secrets that make me smile.

 

This map is great, fun, frenetic and much faster than it looks. An incredibly fun experience that feels pretty good. With a classic theme, I'm sure few would be disappointed with this, and many would be more than satisfied. I highly recommend it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Endless

[Sena]

Day 7: Plutonia 1024: The Plutinya Exeriment https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/pl1024

 

As you can possibly infer from its name, this WAD is a megawad in the style of Plutonia, but with a 1024x1024 limit. Of its 33 levels, I only completed about 14 or 15 before deciding I'd had enough, which I think is a fair enough sample size, Due to the size, it equals about 40-60 enemies per level, and the levels don't seem to have much order to them, it's pretty random how they will be structured, and how hard they will be, owing largely to the fact that each of the maps had a unique author, albeit the only person I recognised was Jimmy, unless Walter Confalonieri is the Italian cousin of Walter Confetti. 

As previously mentioned, this WAD's levels are a very mixed bag, most of them conform to the Plutonia visual style of wood and stones and skulls, but some of them actually branch out with stuff like lava and bloodfalls, but really, nothing about it is uniform, which isn't inherently bad, outlier levels can be good, My Fav from JPCP, funnily enough, is my fav, despite being completely different to the rest of that WAD. In any case, I'd find it hard to truly give a proper overview of this WAD's levels, because there is so much disparity in quality. Some are good, some aren't, some give you over 200 plasma cells, others give you nothing but shotgun shells. But one thing that is consistent to all of them is the 1024 limit, which I think is far too little, most the rooms are just far too cramped and claustrophobic, especially when so much of the enemy count is revenants, meaning the gameplay often boils down to being guaranteed to get hit if you can't kill them before they launch an attack, which is something I'd consider a major part of the core gameplay experience, you've got to slice the pie because they've got chaingunners up the arse, but once you enter an arena there is very little movement skill involved, it comes down to just hope they don't choose to attack for a while and the pain chance RNG is on your side. Furthermore, there is one consistent move that multiple mappers decided to put in, and that is randomly spawning in enemies 1 unit away from your face, which is just a shitty way of doing difficulty, like at the end of map 4 or 5, you take a teleporter and there's three hell knights right in front of you, and also the level design lies to you by having an invisible wall that tricks you into thinking you can get some space, which is what you will probably want to do. Surprising the player is one thing, but when it's done like this, it's not a test of reaction skills, or how well you can adapt to an unexpected situation, it's basically just "is this your first playthrough well guess you just lost 40hp lmao", making encounters like that loses its charm very fast, it just feels cheap, you didn't get hit because, say, unlike Sunder, another WAD which can feel very claustrophobic because of how many enemies it uses, you lacked the combat skills to move properly, dodge enemies and kill them efficiently, the difficulty is one-time, when you know it's coming, it loses all its value, I'm sure it's got its fans, sometimes I wonder if other people actually dislike revenant spam the way I do. In short, I'd give this WAD a 5/10, although some individual levels would on their own be closer to a 7, but the quality between them is erratic. The levels feel very cobbled together, and are just too restrictive to really allow for the player to make any interesting choices, and the difficulty is far from ideal. Sunder might just be the perfect example of how you can make very large arenas that still demand a lot of the player, as if they don't perform optimally, the enemy will take control of it and they'll end up cornered and dead. Plutonia 1024 just turns Doom into a cover-based shooter.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Sena