Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #012

[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. Castle Of Eternal Carrot In The Sky
2. Gamarra's Story Part VIII: "Questions in front of a mirror"
3. Oracle
4. Armory
5. The NEW Icon of Sin
6. Wolfen-Steined!
7. Deus Ex Machina

 

Spoiler

The Top 10 (Out of 24)

1. @Roofi | 1190
2. @Sena | 510
3. @Walter confetti | 265
4. @Endless | 230
5. @smeghammer | 175
6. @ICID | 165
7. @Maribo | 145
8. @LUISDooM | 110
9. @Biodegradable | 85
10. @Misty | 75

 

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

11. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #011

 

[ICID]

Castle Of Eternal Carrot In The Sky (2001) by Fredrik Johansson

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 9}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

Fredrik Johansson is a name more Doomers should be familiar with. Not only did he create the excellent Vrack trilogy and make several contributions to high-profile projects like The Speed of Stupid and Plutonia 2, but he also founded the Doom Wiki, added substantially to Freedoom, and was a former Doomworld moderator. Our community simply wouldn’t be what it is today without him.

 

Most importantly for the purposes of the ER/iWA, he is a good level designer who had a knack for compelling settings, visual detail, and way-ahead-of-his-time combat that often doesn’t feel like it’s aged a day. So I had high hopes for “Castle of Eternal Carrot”, which was supposedly based on a dream Johansson had.

 

It didn’t quite meet those hopes – it’s no Vrack, let’s say that – but this is still a worthy WAD and practically a masterpiece by the low, low standards of the Random File feature. First and foremost, I like that it has a defined aesthetic and tone – Johansson not only built the map, but composed all the music for it, a track which combined with the sound of the massive number of monsters in each room feels like a sonic assault, very fitting for a bizarre dreamscape.

 

The map rewards exploration, backtracking, and resource management (all stuff I enjoy doing) and challenges you to find your own path, but broadly takes place over three areas unlocked with keys. The first and second are mostly about putting you up against mosh pits of mid-to-high tier enemies while forcing you to either ration radsuits or give up most of your room to dodge – good stuff, no complaints here.

 

The third area is a maze full of switches which open up progressively larger numbers of cacodemons who will teleport around to fill areas you’ve already cleared. Not too unpleasant at first – the maze is pretty easy, and who among us doesn’t enjoy shooting rockets into caco clouds – but it goes on for way too long and feels tedious by the end. It almost feels like a relief when you’re put into a one-on-one with a spider mastermind (pro tip: do what I did and save a blur sphere for this part) and sent to an anti-climactic ending.

 

I would have given this a much more glowing review if not for that weak final stretch, but “Castle of Eternal Carrot In The Sky” is still unique, interesting, and mostly enjoyable work from a master of the art of Doom.

 

Grade: 7/10

TL;DR: A dream worth sharing, except for the caco maze.

 

[smeghammer]

Ohh yeah! I have had COECITS WAD for many years. It's excellent and weird and HARD (AFAIAC). Love VRACK (2 particularly) as well.

[Biodegradable]

Armory's the only WAD of the pre-selection available that I found interesting, so I grabbed two other random WADs from the archive. Yes, I am still doing these in bursts of three because I'm used to it now, so shaddap lol. Anyways, here we go!

 

Armory (1994)

So this first one is... hmm... well, it's misleading for starters. Given the year it was made, I guess I can forgive it a little. Still, the title is a disappointment as it doesn't look like an armory at all. It's just a large selection of square sectors linked together, so it's not terribly interesting. It's certainly not the most boring of the three, oh no, we'll get to the snorefest map next. I can't say I hated this map but it's so... plain and non-descriptive that I'm finding it very difficult to say anything about it, positive or negative. It's just... there. Feels like a first map for how devoid of detailing, height variation, landmarks or anything remotely engaging, which astounds me in retrospect because again, THIS ISN'T THE BORING ONE! I guess I'll call it the Boring Runner-Up. It wasn't necessarily boring to play, but it sure is dull when asked to write anything about it. I genuinely can't think of anything to say other than redundant surface-level observations. Definitely feels like a myfirstwad.wad circa 1994 despite the mapper apparently having previous experience. YEESH!

 

Dead Base 2.0 (2003)

Moving on into the 2000s we have a map that provides a little storytelling with some interactive elements, which is cute. As for the gameplay? Dull. Very, very dull. The map itself feels much less like a base and much more like a storage locker facility with heaps of tiny, virtually empty squares strewn across the place with a door, 2-3 enemies and some barrels and pick-ups. That's the majority of the gameplay until you get the yellow keycard. Things only get slightly more interesting... SLIGHTLY. But I can't lie. This bloody map is so damn boring. So much so in fact that it bored me into a trance that caused me to not even notice/remember when I picked up the rocket launcher of all things. Besides the interesting blood fountain at the center of the map, it mainly uses the white concrete texture for all the buildings, which made navigation a chore, there aren't any interesting setpieces, most of the storage areas look the same and the combat scenarios stunk. I think this is the meanest I've allowed myself to be reviewing a WAD for one of these.

 

The Crimson Keep (1995)

Okay, now this one, this one's fun. But it might also be fun for the wrong reasons. Regardless, it was the pick-me-up I desperately needed after the last WAD. Here we have a delightfully charming gothic castle attempt using only Doom 1 textures and it's an admirable effort. It's not terribly convincing, but it's an honest try that I can respect given the limitations. The map's progression is a little iffy and the mapper's penchant for using unconventional door textures irked me a tad, but the combat is hot and heavy and has things coming at you from many angles pretty much constantly. It also uses lighting to pretty decent effect as well! Sometimes, the mapper put monsters behind walled-off areas with windows, making combat feel like you're shooting fish in a barrel but overall it's a good time. It's adorable in how it's kind of crap, but it's crap that was made with love and I respect this map. My favourite of the three for sure.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 17

 

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

 

File 1) DOSDOOM VERSION 0.64 - Binary Executables by DOSDoom Team (1998)

 

Quote

This is DOSDoom, a port of linux doom. You can run all your original DOOM wads with DOSDoom It has loads of new features for players and level designers of the original Doom.

 

An old port.

 

 

 

I died in front of the first boss of Demons of Problematique 2

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Walter confetti]

Castle of the Eternal Carrot in the Sky by Fredrik Johansson - Boom compatible port, 2001, played with Eternity 4.0.2 forseti

Spoiler

 

 

A great classic wad that i had a big pleasure to replay it, it was one of the first maps i've played with such a theme of a void / floating building, with the exclusion of SKYCITY probably, but it was the first time with such a cure in the details and atmosphere. The level feels strange but it's also extremly well crafted with the usage of 3D structures like the stairs and the invisible hallway in the bridge, the gameplay is addicting and the layout flows greatly between the void areas and the castle structure. This map was even a inspiration for (unluckily) lost map i made long time ago that replaced Doom E3M8.

 

Gamarra's story: Part VIII "Questions in front of a mirror" by Giulo "Glassyman" Galassi - Zdoom, 2006, played with zandronum alpha 3.1

Spoiler

 

We're moving 5 years later with a map that it's on the antipodes of the previous map, but first a little bit of lore behind this map series: one day, in a time between mock 2 and terrywads in the jokead history, it appeared this mapper from Italy out of nowhere with this map series called Gamarra, where he mocks up his... friend? An old acquaintance of him? Who knows? About the fact he doesn't pass homeworks and having huge shoe size, then evolving in other stories always having this Gamarra person as protagonist / anatgonist / shadowy powerful figure behind the curtains of the series, then followed by having Gamarra bounty hunters by using real life mappers, (including myself lol) called Gamarra Killers or Hunters or i don't remember now.This author stopped his mapping carrier after having the "Worst WAD cacoward" of the same year (or 2007?) and also getting in some big dramas here on Doomworld and on Zdoom forums with Wills and other jokewad authors for the reasons everybody getting pissed off even in that times. I wonder what it could be happen to him in these days that lead him and other bunch of mappers creating it's own doom forums like 40oz did with Doomer Boards, with blackjack and hookers various projects, unluckily not having the same luck of the latter... Anyway, the levels of this author are almost all similar in their style: A large and crude level that uses a lot of STARTAN everywhere, mostly rectangular rooms, usage of some 1994 style architecture pieces like sector pyramids and other stuff, MS Paint posters with some Gamarra advices or curses against the player and the scarce usage of some random Zdoom special effects, like mirrors and scrolling textures / flats here, all crammed with a raw semi-slaughtermap gameplay. I think that this map will not join the favors of other reviewers, but for me is a interesting map, is not the best map ever made but it's not even all to wasting out, it have a really big nostalgic fell of me playing wads at shovelware doom CDs back in the time where internet was unknown to the big public, it's also somewhat fun to play.

 

DeathTown by Daniel Griffiths - Vanilla Doom, 1995, played with zandronum alpha 3.1

Spoiler

 

A small, compact and with a pretty cool layout for the age it was done deathmatch oriented map (but it have monsters and a classic level progression with the expection of a working exit) sets in a small town / citadel surrounded by a lava pit and guarded in the outside by group of barons that is probably the pit mentioned in the file name? Also it uses the romero Speed Mapping time of 6 hours, coincidence? However, funny short romp and maybe playing this with something different than bots it will be more fun, i'll guess.

 

DMCROSS by Brad Hughes - Vanilla Doom, 1994 but uploaded in 2006, played with zandronum alpha 3.1

Spoiler

 

As myk wroted in his review, a very old school map with some bland looking design but somehow fun, it includes lots of monster closets tricks when you get keys or other important objects, layout is intricate but sometimes gets tedious. A ok map. I already heard the authors name, i have to see if he made some other important maps...

 

Hanger episode 1 level 1 by Rob Young - Vanilla Doom, 1994 but uploaded in 2005, played with zandronum alpha 3.1

Spoiler

 

A small, raw newbie level from 1994 with some interesting design choices like the opening / closing windows when you press a switch or pass into a room and some really simple but cute sector details. Rooms are pretty big and open and gameplay is on the easy side and the monster placement make feel this map empty. Also there's a broken nodes that makes sectors bleed even here on zandronum, i wonder how this map will look on vanilla doom... Overall, nothing awesome but not either that bad.

 

The NEW Icon of Sin by Sherman @ShermanFromDeath Herron - Limit removing port(?), 2016 but uploaded in 2019, played with Eternity 4.0.2 forseti

Spoiler

A kinda ugly Icon of Sin style map, not a big fan of this one. I like BLAKWAL1 used in the icon of sin main room at least, but i just like that texture. Sorry about that.

 

Holy smokes, six wads in a evening! That's amazing!

Edited July 29, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 18

 

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

 

File 1) Jose by Jose Mancia (1997)

Spoiler

 

Quote

GREAT DEATHMATCH LEVEL

 

A large Deathmatch map which consists to a sea of green nukage with big sectors letters which form "Jose the master of computers". These sectors act as a lift which hold tons of items. Visually , it's very simple so nothing really interesting besides.

 

File 2) grocery by Derek Altamirano (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This wad file does it's best to recreate a grocery store. It is not perfect, but It is a cool death- match wad. The only weapons available are the gun, shotguns, and the chaingun. This makes it a challenging pwad. Let me know what you think (too easy, too hard, very cool, sucks, etc..) The added graphics are just quickies, and i know they could be done better. Anyone interested, Let me know.

 

A DM map which can be played also as a singleplayer short level. You have to get out of a populated grocery store by finding two keys in a determined order. I really enjoyed the minimalistic new textures , especially the white textures which greatly enhances light contrasts at some places. Gameplay-wise , the few randomly scattered monsters just serve as a filler.

 

 

 

I fell in a pit full of very damaging nukage at the first level of DARKGATE.WAD

 

Spoiler

 

[LUISDooM]

After almost 3 months of not doing any dooming, I just came back to it again. DooM is just... SO ADDICTIVE! I NEEDED MORE... MORE!!!!11!1!

*cough* *cough*

I-I mean. it was fun to get back to Doom... Y-Yeah! :O

Anyways, what a nice way to come back Dooming with some of the maps I randomly got today? The 2 maps today are Vanilla DooM 2 ones and replace MAP01. Both maps were played on GZDooM, HMP Difficulty and freelook.

The first one is called "Get Psyched" from 2011 by "Norbert Dávid a.k.a. NoneeLlama"

Despite the title, the map isn't based on Wolfenstein 3D or something like that, it's just a castle themed map, and a bit difficult one. Just at the start we are welcomed by our nice and beloved friends, an archie and some chaingunners, followed by a couple of unfriendly cybies. And that's just the beginning, You will meet more friends later. XD

See why this is a good map to get bach dooming again? It throws almost (if not all) monsters at you, all of them grouped neatly at every corner, behind every door, I can assure you that you can get splattered at every turn. It got a bit frustrating sometimes, but on a good way, at least the mapper was nice with ammo (on HMP difficulty at least).

The map architecture is simple, not much complex but with nice touches here and there. 

 

Some pics:

 

Spoiler

This map's welcome party XD

Looks like I picked the wrong house...

A medikit I just needed! And a nice friend too :P

The Exit

Teh map :O

 

The second one is called "Fireworks" from 2003 by "François Coppex (Helioth)"

This one is a small outdoor map (a bit dark one too). It is a bit empty at first besides some imps and cacodemons, but once you get to the black tower in the deeps of the map, the party really starts. You may not be asking to youself, why the name "fireworks"? well, when you get inside the towers and go back outside, you'll notice lots of new friends are free now and throw their fireballs at you from everywhere. magically looking like beautiful fireworks. Or not :P

The map's architecture is pretty basic outside and get's better inside the tower, but it gets a bit cramped inside. The map includes some nice custom textures, sounds (some from hexen) and music too. Ammo wise, the map is pretty generous, having lots of shotgun sheel boxes everywhere. My big complain is that, while you gave a good amount of ammo available, you have to deal with mid-tier monsters with the shotgun at first, almost at the end of the map you get better weapons, and once you got them, it is prpbable that all monsters killed each other infighting... :P

Some pics

 

Spoiler

Look at those fireworks fireballs :O Inside the tower...More "fireworks"...The exit, finally! Look, that's the mapper's name! :OThe map

Both maps were pretty fun, especially the first one, that was frustratingly fun XD

Edited July 27, 2021 by LUISDooM

[Walter confetti]

Deus Ex Machina by Dave Pletcher - Vanilla Doom 2, 1996 but uploaded in 2006, Played with Eternity 4.0.2 forseti (and probably it's one of the ports that gaves problem, otherwise it was playable even if i'm not sure if new sprites and dehacked are been added, but it just works fine)

Spoiler

A quirky and nice pair of maps including new textures and new very weird sound choices, the level is set in this tech... temple? The impression is this one, and the level itself is fun and pretty unique. As i wrote above, probably this doesn't work fine with Eternity engine or is just that port that can't play dehacked files, maybe. BTW funny and unique map, with new music it could be even better, i think, but we can't have everything from life.

 

Armory by Doug Branch - Vanilla Doom, 1994, played with vanilla doom exe on DosBox

Spoiler

 

 

Didn't this map was already come out to another player during the previous adventures? I recall that i saw the dark brown room after the start already... anyway a short and really good map for 1994 standards, pretty much inspired by epiode 1 and 2 in terms of layout and texturing, gameplay isn't really that hard but addicting, another fun map!

 

Wizard's Rage by David G Shrock - Vanilla Heretic, 1995 but uploaded in 2005, played with vanilla heretic on dosbox

Spoiler

Four big, open and basic maps for Heretic, the layout is pretty intricate and sometimes you don't understand where to go but there's a lot of cool scenery all around and the levels are all interconnected by having the ending at the starting room of the next map, gameplay is based upon small groups of monsters in specific  key parts of the maps and some other monsters scattered in the dungeon hallways, the only HUGE problem for me is that there's not many items around the maps, with the expection of the last two maps that throws everything. E1M1 and E1M4 are based from a previous map from this author called Castle of Phobos, overall it's a nice mini episode, the new sky texture is really neat!

Edited July 27, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Sena]

Day 1: Castle Of Eternal Carrot In The Sky https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/coecits

 

Played this one last week as well strangely enough, or at least, it is one of many maps I play for anywhere between 2 seconds and 2 minutes before deciding "nah this sucks." And I think I was right.

 

I suppose if I can give it credit for one thing, it definitely feels like a 2001 map, it's got a huge castle and also plenty of ominous demon head wall things for good measure. Probably great for GMOTA, but I think this WAD's largely implicated to me that castles and Doom are a combination that should not be put together, swordfighting on battlements might be all well and good, but shotgunfighting is a different matter. I got to about half kills before giving up, because the map design is just too restrictive to my liking. Granted, it's not all in the battlements, you get to walk in the courtyard, a little bit, and despite all the obstacles it is definitely the best part of the WAD, but the problem is, if you want to actually move forwards, for most of your time you're just having to shoot enemies on the small battlements, and shooting the (very numerous) cacodemons who appear at the sides, for which reason I'd say this is a map that semi-mandates mouselook, and sitting back as you wait for everything to die isn't a particularly exciting way to play, but it is the only way to play, and to make matters worse, you're fighting a ton of enemies against whom the shotgun just isn't any good, I bet there's a secret rocket launcher and the ammo for it somewhere, but if you take the direct route as I did, you're going to be shotgunning many barons and archviles, and also trying to push cyberdemons out of the way so you can activate a switch because that's the one enemy who I can't shotgun. It also doesn't help that the level's largely symmetrical so if there's any alternate routes I can take, it's certainly not made clear, it's hardly clear how and where I'm supposed to advance, even in the most direct method possible. 4/10, it definitely looks good, and it's plenty ambitious, but the combat is just too monotonous and restrictive for my liking.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Sena

[ICID]

Gamarra’s Story Part VIII: “Questions in front of a mirror” (2006) by Giulio “Glassyman” Galassi

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: gzdoom}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

Profoundly terrible. “Questions in front of a mirror” consists entirely of rectangular formations of monsters in rectangular rooms mostly covered with the same texture. You technically have enough ammo to kill everything, but that ammo comes only in the form of shells and you only get the regular shotgun, making gameplay tedious and unpleasant. Adding to the unpleasantness is the use of mirrors, scrolling textures, and strobe lights – as someone who suffers from motion sickness, I legitimately had to pause this WAD multiple times to keep from throwing up.

 

The title refers to a sequence of questions on Italian literary history that will kill you if you answer them wrong. Like the famous “Do you like caco?” part of JPCP’s “My Fav” if instead of being a charming addition to one of the most visually interesting maps of all time it was just pointless and looked like shit. I have nothing more to say about it.

 

 

With all that out of the way, permit me a small tangent. As always, I looked up the author of this WAD to see what else they’ve worked on - especially because I was curious about the rest of “Gamarra’s Story”. Turns out there’s 17 Gamarra adventures in total, starting as a seemingly well-intentioned but poorly-executed attempt to make maps but eventually devolving into jokewad-esque gameplay that just bashed the author’s critics, poorly inserting their faces so that you could kill them or a script could call them gay or something equally childish.

 

This behavior earned the entire series a “Worst Wad” award at the 2007 Cacowards, and reading the text of that thing again…man, I’m glad the community got rid of this award and this whole attitude, which is indicative of a much meaner Doomworld in the early 2000s. Sure, the Gamarra WADs are awful, but the four-paragraph review spends its time bashing the author rather than the work, explicitly encouraging them to leave the Doom community forever. It’s cruel and unpleasant to read, and seems to suggest that a person can never improve.

 

Glassyman’s work is bad, outright offensive at times, but maybe if his maps had been met with a different kind of encouragement, he might have taken his later work in a different direction. Instead, if he was met with this kind of meanness, it’s no wonder he would then start to be just as mean to other people, since that’s what the community seemed to react to at the time. It’s rough stuff…but it makes me proud to be part of an event that can review WADs and have fun and even make jokes at the expense of the awful stuff on Doomworld without ever being discouraging or making things personal. Thanks, all 😊

 

 

As for the WAD itself, I gave up pretty early and cheated to the end to see if there was anything interesting. There is not. Don’t bother.

 

Grade: 1/10

TL;DR: Alternates between boring, nauseating, and stupid.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ICID

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 19

 

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

 

File 1) fulcruml.wad by Steve Suchon (Tacohead) (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This is more of a test level than anything else

 

Very basic indeed, you adventure yourself in an undercooked tech base using stucco texture . You have to find a single red key in order to reach the exit located outdoors. It was a pretty fun short map which I completed in under two minutes. You find pretty good weapons (CG and SSG) considering how weak the bestiary used is.

 

Not interesting but not seriously bad too.

 

File 2) Novice's House by @SpiderDisease (2014)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Another small experiment made by me, reminds me of early 90's community maps.

 

A small Doom 2 map which seems to recreate the gimmicks of a random user map from the 90's. Indeed, this map notably has a very inconsistent texturing which, I think, is totally deliberate because you can find different texturings between each room : a hellish room , an another made of bricks.... However, despite being not a beautiful map, a lot of random 90's maps looked actually much worse than this one.

 

Gameplay-wise, it's very straightforward but enjoyable , because who doesn't like clearing corridors full of zombies?  The end was a bit tougher with some revenants and an Arch-vile but nothing really problematic.

 

Cool small map.

 

File 3) ONLY CHAINSAWとその他 by 永野 想 (2012)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This WAD was found on http://nagano.tri6.net/doom/wads.htm
This is a different WAD from the one in CHAINSAW.ZIP despite the identical text file being included (by mistake?)

This text file uses the Shift-JIS (Japanese) text encoding.

 

An old 1996 DM map made by one of the rare japanese doomers where the gimmick is no weapon available except the chainsaw. Very unusual isn't it?

 

In reality, you can get a berserk pack on a lift located at the center of the map , which is very risky to get because of the surrounding dead pits. Besides, I really like green theme with nukage, rock textures and marble bricks. The layout consists just to a small symetric arena. Also, you can unlock 4 bonus lost souls hidden behind the waterfalls of slime.

 

File 4) DREAM by Jesse Layton (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

One level for Doom2. Really cool.

 

I admit I only played a tiny portion of this map (I only get 6% of kills) because I found a hidden door with a teleporter which led me directly near the exit without giving the possibility to go back.

 

The map looks terrible at the very beginning because it just consists to a maze of 64px wide corridors using SP-Face textures. However , the computer room with the exit door looked pretty decent.

 

I can't say more of this map , but it's funny how almost everything is optional to finish this level.

 

 

 

I stop here for today.

[BoxY]

Here we go:

 

Supermarket by Mike Bedwell (Ult. Doom, 1996): yet another store, Doom style, with shelves (if you stretch the word) packed with all the resources you could want to clean up the 303 barons, pinkies, etc. that are about to break in. There's one new graphic, a shopping cart that replaces the fist to aid in immersion, and of course you can ram monsters with it too. I'm not sure what the .deh is for or if it even loaded correctly, maybe it's just to patch the frames on the cart. Mapping wise there's not much to say, it really is mostly just some rectangular sectors in a big grey room in the fine tradition of 90s mapping. If there's one thing this map lacks badly it's a cheesy smooth jazz midi which should have been easy to come by in the 90s. Screenshots (after this one I turned off the extended HUD because it spoils some info when I start the map):

 

Spoiler

Just like real life.

 

I thought these guys were management, but on second look this seems to be the most primitive sector bathroom yet seen in a wad. 

 

Control Station KGx/57 by Scott McNutt (Doom 2, 1996): a huge, ostentatiously named blue and silver base/maze filled with hitscan. After wandering around a bit and pressing some unmarked usable walls and nondescript switches to find random areas, I noticed one wall was marked with my exit linedef colour in the automap. I humped it and sure enough, I exited. This mapping mistake was entertaining enough to me that I felt like nothing could top it so I didn't feel the need to go back and see the rest of the map. If you want a speedrun route for this map then that's the way to go, I guess.

 

Spoiler

The whole map looks like this, being faithful to the colour scheme right down to the status bar.

 

This was considered hot in the 90s.

 

This was considered funny in the 90s.

 

Octoshotgun by BloodyAcid (ZDoom, 2013): a DECORATE patch that converts the SSG into the titular octoshotgun, which does behave exactly like 4 SSGs taped together. Although the author called it overpowered it's more of a sidegrade to the SSG than an upgrade, because you're now dealing with massive ammo consumption and more animation frames in the reload. Unlike SSG you can't just use it for everything and pulling the trigger becomes a tactical decision. It does flatten anything in the way when fired down a hallway though. It also gives a substantial backwards kick to the player, which you can use to fling yourself into spots you're not supposed to reach.

 

Spoiler

Some magnificent sprite work.

 

Reloading takes about as long as it takes to beat each of these maps though.

 

Demon House: Lost Warpgate by Ioan "Ebon" Chera (Ult. Doom, 2005): 'You've been teleported to an antarctic UAC Warpgate infested by demons and your mission is to seal it off from any more invaders. You need to find the maintenance card hidden somewhere in this damned old nuthouse.' A pretty insane, cramped and broken-feeling but quite detailed first-timer map. It's maybe theoretically beatable if you have perfect luck but I didn't bother trying too hard and just cheated to look at the rest of the map. Other than a single box of shells and the ammo that enemies drop, there are NO non-secret resources and the secrets are so bizarrely built that even with iddt and humping everything for several minutes I was only able to find green armour and a berserk, but which requires grabbing the BK then YK and backtracking through the map, and since picking up the BK floods the halls with spectres and pinkies, it's almost impossible to get back there without running out of ammo and getting trapped. A nuthouse indeed. The neatest part of the map is where you rise up out of the underground base to the RK platform where you can see the Antarctic wastes that you were presumably supposed to trek through in the next map, but it's probably for the best that this thing didn't get a sequel.

 

Spoiler

If you don't figure out within one radsuit that this ugly texture is an essential switch, you're screwed.

Sunny Antarctica awaits.

 

Kurogane by Memfis (Doom 2, 2011): a low-key, 'gloomy' map with a focus on resource starvation, mazey exploration and low-intensity combat. Mostly it seems like this was built to experiment with lighting and stock textures since you get a bit of everything in the visual style department and a lot of sector shadows. Fights aren't hard except for the liberal hitscan and minimal health items, there being exactly 2 medikits and maybe 5 stimpacks in the main route, so make sure to play extra slow and careful...zzz. On the whole I'd say that if you like TNT-style maps you could check this out, but if you like fun maps, go elsewhere.

 

Spoiler

Zombies peacefully meditating under the TNT skybox.

 

A lot of this kind of lighting stuff in the hallways. It really is very gloomy.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by BoxY

[Sena]

Day 2: Gamarra's story: Part VIII "Questions in front of a mirror" https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/g-i/gamarra8

 

William Shakespeare once said that brevity is the soul of wit, for which reason, I shall summarise this WAD very briefly: it's shit.

 

I may have complained that yesterday's map was monotonous, but in retrospect, it's not anywhere near as bad as Gamarra's works, which, as mentioned by ICID, were all of consistently poor quality, maybe we can blame them on an unsupportive community, maybe he enjoyed the notoriety of being known as a bad mapper, most likely a combination of both, but the fact of the matter is this map is as plain and uninteresting as it could be. The first half feels more like a first draft of a map, i.e. they said to themselves "I'm just going to make the architecture and worry about what textures to use later", and then they never fixed them later. It's flat, it all looks the same, and it's just plain boring, there's nothing notable about it, the level design and enemy placement feels like what happens if you leave a bunch of mushrooms to mould in the dark for a couple centuries. Towards the second half, they start using these spinning walls and floors which are nauseating, and also the enemy count triples, to the point that I didn't want to play at all and just kept running while using the chaingun to shove them out my way, and the ending room isn't even finished. Also it has two questions about Italian literature, which I got one wrong on, but fortunately I was able to continue by typing resurrect in console (it's not cheating I was just referencing the Bible). 1/10, the trivia gimmick is basically negligible, and possibly the only thing that could have been a redeeming feature, but it wasn't, it's a map that unintentionally displays everything wrong with Oblige maps, whilst foregoing everything that makes Oblige good.

[Walter confetti]

Schizophrenia by Inferno_45 - Zdoom or any port that enables jumping, 2002, played with prboom+ 2.5.1.7um

Spoiler

A short and cramped first (and probably only) map by this 13 years old (at the time) doomer that also suffers of schizophrenia, or he\she|it just used that word because sounds edgy af. Anyway this maps uses new graphics and a new chaingun sprite from quake and other sources and new music from Goldeneye, i think. There's also lots of neat detailing and a quake-like switch that activates when you walk on it. If i had to find something that i don't really enjoyed is that there is too much backtracking from place to place imo. But overall a pretty cool short map.

 

#DooM Speedmapping Session 1 by various mappers - Boom, 2014, Played with Prboom 2.5.1.7um

Spoiler

 

12 maps held by the #doom community on irc.speedrunslive.com, where known and unknown names are present in the list, the map quality is mixed between good and bad stuff and the final two maps have both broken exit doors, great. But with this comes out a pretty fun series of maps where the chaos rules over these lands of startan and rushed out layouts, thanks to the cyberdemon-centric gameplay chosen by all the mappers for this, the other theme used here was water and fire but it wasn't really that much used... maps are more funnier with cyberdemons on it, obviously. Best maps are MAP08 and MAP12, funniest map is MAP03, bad apple-st map is MAP07, most 1994 map is MAP02 and most alfonzo map is MAP01 (that is actually based upon a really neat concept!). A fun ride overall.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 20

 

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

 

File 1) Descent 3-5 by @Cyb (1999)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

:Just some small DM maps I made. I have no clue why I made them, the mood just struck me I guess. They're the next three in the Descent DM series I guess. Whatever you want.

 

A set of very small and squarish DM maps using substantially gothic textures.  I like how Cyb made layers to create a simple but quite detailed architecture mixed with an effective color combination. Besides this, the maps look very generic with very square and symetric layouts as mentioned above.  The third level is maybe a little more interesting thanks to the little more prounounced height differences. Also, the most powerful weapon you can get is the Rocket launcher.

 

Pretty inspiring little wad for the themes.

 

 

 

I got sniped by a chaingunner hidden behind a middletexture in wsarena2.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Sena]

Day 3: Oracle https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/m-o/oracle

 

Fitting name really, because for 1995, this was extremely ambitious and well crafted. Granted, times change, but 250 enemies back then was a big deal, or at least I should think it was, because I can't remember the last map from that era that had any more than 80, at absolute most. Still, while I can appreciate its ambition, and for being leagues above anything else from the era, that doesn't mean that me playing it today doesn't demonstrate some shortcomings.

 

The first issue is that the level looks sort of ugly, like maps on the Source engine that haven't been rendered properly and have 100% lighting on everything as a stopgap. The visual variety isn't too bad, it's only about 60-70% brown instead of the usual 90% on these early maps, but the areas feel very barren, there is little going on, and an excessive number of dead ends and places that just don't serve any purpose. Also, you have to have jumping enabled, which I'd like to think I adapted to reasonably well, but it still makes navigation more troublesome than it otherwise would be because my brain has been hardwired to think that I can't jump over stuff. Navigating around is definitely the weakest point of the WAD, it's not clear at all where you're meant to go, nor what the various buttons do, the triggers aren't very reliable, and this is compounded by excessive area triggers on items, there's upwards of 3 partial invisibilities, which I don't want to pick up because nobody wants it, and probably as many berserks, which you don't need more than 1 of when there's supercharges all over the place meaning you're almost never under 100% health, but you've got to pick them up to move, or maybe not, I picked up every item, pushed every button, went through every place on the map at least 3 times, but had to quit on around 90% kills. Also you get those moving textures of someone else playing Doom, which seem to be widespread, just one of those things that came into existence and I probably shouldn't question why they're there.

 

As you may have inferred from the abundance of items, the level is not too hard, I can frame that positively by saying they've got plenty of ammo, or at least after about 10 minutes when you don't have the ammo, it's a very clear-cut before and after, which is fine, but the basic gameplay usually means you're not going to have much trouble, they seem to really like putting enemies around the platforming segments, which would probably be the most difficult part if not for the fact I could just kill them before the platforming bit.

 

 

In essence, it's not a genuinely bad map, but it certainly does look bad, and the combat encounters are somewhat forgettable, and while back in 1995 this would have been revolutionary, today you've got better options to choose from. 5/10.

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by Sena

[ICID]

Oracle (1995) by Jim Flynn and Scott Harper

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 2}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

If there’s one thing 90s mapping has over modern WADs, it’s unpredictability. Modern design favors set rules that usually lead to an enjoyable gameplay flow, but when deployed too rigidly can cause a dull, same-y feeling. Fairly or not, BTSX is starting to be seen as the epitome of this style: technically flawless, but in a way that makes certain maps feel lifeless.

 

“Lifeless” is certainly not a word you would ever use to describe the work of Jim Flynn, a former TeamTNT member and Boom developer who sadly passed in 2018, leaving the community with an extremely impactful body of work. To be fair, “flawless” might not be a word you’d use either.

 

 

Flynn was the kind of person who was constantly pushing against rules in his mapping work. In his world, anything could be a door, or a switch, or a teleporter – fractal, chaotic designs bearing no relation to either the real world or most other Doom levels, then or now. At worst, this led to stuff like his two dire contributions to the Master Levels – confusing to the point of frustration, dark lands where even wallhumping won’t help you figure out where the fuck you’re supposed to go.

 

Though not his best work, Oracle is definitely on the other side of Flynn’s output. At times, it’s flat-out gorgeous – I love the recurring technique of stairs rising into place, making it feel like you’re walking and battling through some kind of living M.C. Escher painting. Perhaps an appropriate comparison, since the level starts with you jumping through paintings in a central hub library.

 

 

Oracle is also definitely on the high end of 1995 output, in part because it actually lets you have the super shotgun, for once. There’s plenty of ammo and a good number of decent combats structured around monster compositions we mostly wouldn’t see today. It’s not too hard for a modern player, but it’s not too easy either.

 

Unfortunately, I still found myself getting lost in Oracle a lot, and ultimately tapped out before finishing the level. Maybe it’s a map I respect more than I like. But I do

think if we got to play more stuff like this in the ER/iWA – stuff that’s unique, and interesting, and clearly the singular vision of one auteur who knew what he was doing – maybe we wouldn’t all tremble in fear when we saw a 90s WAD on the list.

 

Grade: 6/10

TL;DR: Visionary, beautiful, and confusing as fuck. In other words, a Jim Flynn special.

Edited July 30, 2021 by ICID

[Walter confetti]

wsarena2 by Walter D. Sanz - Vanilla Doom 2, 1996, Played with eternity engine 4.0.2 forseti

Spoiler

A big and glitchy slaughtermap without anything really interesting in it, the texturing are all over the place as well as the missing textures and the various HOMs. Nothing else to say about it.

 

JEDAI-1.WAD by Timothy A. Harris a.k.a. JedaiYet - Vanilla Doom 2, 1995, played with eternity engine 4.0.2 forseti and zandronum 3.1 alpha with bots

Spoiler

Another map i've found by this author by the random button thingie, this is a pretty cool and fun arena with a open layout and rocket fest if you or one of the other players get the RL, it uses again the "Jedai Yet" as a sound replacement for the teleport, it's ok. Big fun this time.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Sena]

Day 4: Armory https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/a-c/armory

 

This is a fairly basic map, not much height variation, a lot of it looks the same, but it's surprisingly good. It's not got much going for it, you can probably guess what you're in for from that opening sentence alone, at least triple the ammo you need, 90% of the enemy count is imps and shotgunners, and in general there isn't really anything particularly interesting to see, it's certainly not got any major points of interests, its most unique feature is that it's one of those maps where the secrets aren't actually very secret, in the sense that rooms you wouldn't think are secrets at all are marked as such. 

Despite these flaws, it's actually surprisingly competent, not quite good enough that I'm going to bother taking an entire 10 seconds to drag into my folder to permanently have as an option to go back to, but it flows well enough, there's not too much down time between encounters, and despite the whole map looking largely identical, I didn't have any trouble figuring out where to go. A solid 6/10, it's not very memorable, it's not very long, and compared to yesterday's map, only released a year after, the mapper wasn't trying particularly hard, it feels like an opening to a megawad, but I had a good time.

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 21

 

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

 

File 1) Barney Version 2.1 by Robbie Teegarden (1994)

 

Quote

I really didn't make many changes. I just added some commands to the .bat files. It now unzips all the Barney gifs in a dir called barn. It also deletes all files at end of execution so it won't leave stray files in your doom directory! (like so many other graphic patches do!!)

Any questions you can e-mail me but I would suggest writting one of the other two fellas because they are the ones who did all the work!!

 

A very very old software which allowed you to use new graphics of Barney the pink Dinosaur in Ultimate Doom. However , the zip contains nothing but only executable. I don't know how I'm supposed to launcher them , but you can still contemplate each sprite in a separated folder. Looks fun.

 

File 2) UFO (version 2) by R.A. Snow (2000)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This wad simply replaces the Cacodemon with a UFO. New to this version: - converted the Dmgraph patch to wad format - added the missing sprite frames (heada3a7, headb3b7, headc3c7, headd3d7) - clipped the unused space from the images to halve the size of the wad. - adjusted the vertical and horizontal offsets of the sprites. - added four sounds - UFO nearby, sees player, injured and death sounds (see known bugs below).

 

The description provided by the author is self-explanatory about the mod. The UFO look ever more cartoony than the original cacodemon because of the quite colorful sprite and the sounds. Also , the author replaces the pain sound with a metallic sound , which is theoretically a good thing. Indeed , considering a lot of monsters share the same cacodemon's pain sound, hurting demons like barons or even pinkies will result to an artificial metallic noise.  However, this new sound could work pretty well for cybernectic monsters like the Spider-Mastermind or the Arachnotron for instance.

 

File 3) Bronze by Kevin Waugh, Jake Wershler

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Cool level with weapons 1 - 5 chainsaw - rocket launcher

 

This level is not that cool. First, you start surrounded with barrels and you quickly have to escape before zombies shoot on them. Also, this map is nothing more than a linear map with a bunch of empty brown rooms. The level is too short to be interesting. You can complete in less than 1 minute !

 

I think this level takes its name from the brown texturing , which looks pretty interesting. But the rooms contain strictly no detail.

 

 

I forgot that the Heresiarch can counter your attack in the heretic wad Hordes of Chaos III

 

Spoiler

 

[Sena]

Day 5: The NEW Icon of Sin (Original Version) https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/s-u/tnios2016

 

This is pretty basic. It's the icon of sin, but it's a much smaller room, made out of flesh walls, and the platform is much closer to the icon itself, but you only get two rockets, meaning you can't miss once. In the time it takes to kill it this way, only about one or two monsters will spawn, which, like the regular icon of sin, means you're either completely fucked, or is an enemy so inconsequential you don't even want to bother turning around to kill it. I never liked the IoS, so I guess a replacement that means you have to fight it for less time is good. But the same way that "if it ain't broke don't fix it", I would also suggest "if it's broke then there's probably a good reason for that so you should try and avoid doing it again because there's a good chance your attempt to fix it will be unsuccessful". Not quite as catchy, but the point still stands, someone thought that the IoS was flawed enough that it needed to be changed and improved, but the end result is one that retains most of the problems of the original, if not more because I don't think giving the player a 0% margin for error is a particularly good idea, that's why we have medkits. And it doesn't fix any of the problems, I wouldn't even call it a decent novelty, it doesn't really have any genuine improvements over the original, if you absolutely want to kill the IoS as fast as possible, turning on mouselook is going to do a better job of it. 3/10.

Edited July 31, 2021 by Sena

[Walter confetti]

Into the Abyss by Dan Ferro - Vanilla Doom, 2007, played with Vanilla Doom exe on DosBox

Spoiler

 

A cool and pretty ID like level that replaces E2M2 sets in this derelict computer station, at the start you have almost no ammo and you have to deal with mid-tier monsters likes hordes of demons and cacos with your pistol and the un-berserk version of the fist and this is until the half of the map, having to dodge in pacifist style almost all the monsters, lots of places in the dark, a pretty interesting progression for the map by switching various and revealing new parts of the map, really good use of lighting that creates a scary atmosphere in the map. Noticed a pair of node building bugs that broke sectors that another reviewer found out. Overall is a cute map with some minor bugs and more ammo at the start will make it funnier.

 

Captured! by The Dark Lord - Vanilla Doom 2, 1997 but uploaded in 1998, Played with zandronum 3.1 alpha using bots

Spoiler

A small and simple deathmatch arena with some monsters in it, the level is divided in 4 rooms each with it's theme, enemy usage and gimmick (wolfenstein and teleporting monsters, green stones, hitscanners and perilious small catwalks, library and... untouchable items at the top of bookshelfs?) joined by a pretty neat stair room working as a central hub guarded by two cybermons in the middle, that's pretty sadic! In DM game, this central room works as the place where the real mayhem happens, but it's not a really fun map to play imo. Intersting concepts, bad execution.

 

CHEERS FOR DOOM 2 VERSION 1.2 by some anonymous "Cheers" enthusiast - Vanilla Doom 2, 1996, played with vanilla doom2 exe on DosBox

Spoiler

 

For the series "there's a Doom level on everything", i've got by random find this small and simple (and really empty in monster placement!) level based upon the 80s sit-com that i heard of for the first time now, Cheers (in italy known as "Cin Cin" that it's the equivalent of Cheers) sets in this pub where people do pub stuff... no, really, i don't know what happens here, as well as why this series got such a succes to win like a million of Emmy awards during it's 11 years of broadcasting, the fu- is this, the Scrubs of pub shows? I'll watch some videos of it on youtube for understand why it was so popular.

But enough with this digression and return on the short review of this map: the level have some new paint-made graphics, some ancient Doomcute like toilets, tables, a truck at the start (nothing like in UAC_DEAD or TNT, this is even more primitive!) and some biliard pool with drunk zombiemen at the top of them! The layout is extremly open and fells like a good DM map, even if the author wrote that he didn't tested for this game mode yet. The monster placement is really scarce, consisting of some sparce former humans around the pub and a imp in the men toilet, are they represent of the sitcom charatchers? New sounds and a new bland midi from the show are been used as well.

 

Is a interesting piece of wad history, at least, i've never seen a Doom map based upon a sitcom with the exepction of the recent Seinfield level... more sitcom wads, please (not)!

Edited July 31, 2021 by Walter confetti

[Roofi]

Month 3 Day 22

 

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

 

File 1) Motor Rail (house) Deathmatch by I'm me (2005)

 

Spoiler

Quote

This is the house in Motor Rail before the railroad ran the line through it. It was much nicer then.*

 

A rather small and mediocre "My house" kind of map where big furnitures obstruct your moves. The house is mainly populated by cacodemons but there is also an arch-vile at the beginning which can easily burn you. Unless if I'm wrong, this map contains no health item so , try to dodge ennemies' attacks as much as possible. Fortunately, you have a lot of cell packs for your plasmagun.

 

Aesthetically , it doesn't look so bad. The author added some new textures which make the house a little cutier. I liked how he added leafs on the tree sprites.

 

File 2) Lava Pit DeathMatch by @JagDogger2525 (2015)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This is also a small map around 'lilipads' and 'flowers' since the rings are the 'lilipads' and the towers are the 'flowers' while the lava is the 'water', so to speak.

Safe spots and Rad Suits are provided yet also playing with Dropped Weapons and No Left Weapons can really provide more screw jobs here like my previous DeathMatch wad. ~Enjoy

 

I wonder why this level is called "Lava Pit" whereas the only liquid used is damaging blood? Maybe because the original iwad doesn't have proper laval fall textures. Anyway , this map should be called "Blood pit".

 

I like the very red texturing as well as the circular wooden platforming surrounding the middle brick structure. Besides that , the layout consists to a very simple square arena where the inaccessible tunnels allowing to convey the liquids form a kind of swastika, is it really intentional?

 

 

Got instant-raped in the monster-filled DM map 2Zone

 

Spoiler

 

[LUISDooM]

Today I have 2 maps that actually I got them the other day but just had the time to play are from the good 'ol 90's. As always, they were played on GZDooM on HMP Difficulty, Free Look and Doom (Strict) compat mode.

 

The first one is Called "Fenchurch 2 (Fenchurch 1 for Doom and never got sent out.)" from 1997 by Mannequin. This is a Doom 2 map that suppossely, is on Boom format (at least that's how the map editor detected it) and replaces MAP01

 

Well, despite the map having "church" on it's name, it doesn't have anything with to do with them (I hoped to see a cross at least). The map in change, is some weird base of sorts with even weirder design choices, like Keys and required-to progress switches hidden on secret areas, lots of hidden doors (my arch-nemesis), switches placed on unconventional places (inside of a teleport), teleports on weird places and my favorite, lots of ways of softlock yourself! 
The map architecture is really simple, you won't see too much complex stuf, but something Iliked about this map, is that, while it starts pretty simple, it gets slightly better as you progress (not that much though) and feels like the author was experimenting with the different effects of the game. While the map is pretty short, I spent more time hunting for switches and often getting softlocked. Getting the yellow key was so hard that I had to open the map on GZDooM Builder (Yeah, I know it's old) to see what was the freaking way to get it (you had to press 3 hidden switches that, if you missed just one, you'd get softlocked).
While this map was designed for DooM 2, it actually don't use many of the "new stuff" it has, like the monsters or the SSG, the only monsters you'll see are Zombiemans, Shotgunguys, Imps and Demons, no SSG unfortunately...

If you like basic maps from 90's, cryptic switch hunts, and getting soflocked, you should give it a try! 
Too bad we'll never see the prequel "Fenchurch 1 for Doom", since looks like it was lost in time... :(

 

Screenshots

 

Spoiler

The start

Into the map

My nemesis friend, a hidden door! 

Barrels O' Fun Part 2!

The exit

The map, courtesy of Slade (R)

The second one is called "My second level" from 1996 by Scorpius. This one is for DooM and replaces E1M1. This one has a custom E1M1 music.

 

This one was an exercise of frustration for me, since at the very start you get ambushed with lots of demons ready to bite your butt (and thy'll do it very quickly if you don't move), thankfully yo get a trusty... chaingun to deal with them. after dying several times, I just choose to run, just to fall into cheap traps, a pitch black pit full of demons or a teleport to a intimate encounter with a Cyberdemon (okay, I fell on that one on purpose XD).
The map is pretty short and basic like the last one and while it doesn't have too much weird design choices, it has some ways of getting soflocked.

Good thing is that I hadn't the need to open it on my old editor in order to see how to finish it XD

 

Wanna some pics? There you go ;)

 

Spoiler

Start point

Having fun with some ol' friends

3 teleports! What could go wrong...?

How lovely.

A sewer-like room

The exit

Da map

 

[Walter confetti]

3 hours ago, LUISDooM said:

"My second level" from 1996 by Scorpius

 

I wonder if it's the same @Scorpius that did some maps for the 64 kb challenge...

[ICID]

Armory (1994) by Doug Branch

 

^{Play Settings}

^{Source port: glboom+, complevel 3}

^{Difficulty: UV}

 

I dunno. I feel like at this point you can guess all my complaints with this simple 90s WAD without my even writing them – minimal height variation, simple texturing, no sense of place, sleepy monster placement, never got a weapon above the basic shotgun, fell in an inescapable pit. There, we’re done!

 

The most interesting thing about this map is that it has 13 secret sectors, one of which is required to finish the level, and most of the rest of which probably contain lots of monsters since I got all 3 keys and finished the level and still only had 48% kills. Not even bizarre enough to be interesting, but at least it’s competent and over quickly. My standards have sunk so low that that actually feels pretty good for a random WAD.

 

Grade: 4/10

 

[Sena]

Day 6: Wolfen-Steined! https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/0-9/2fiffy1

 

I compare things to Wolfenstein on a fairly regular basis, with the implication that it's bad, and this mapset is true to its name, featuring the same monotonous, featureless, flat look of Wolf3D, even going so far as to replicate the experience by only featuring two enemy types (Nazi and chaingunner, alternatively, fast chaingunner and slow chaingunner) and gobshite level design that forces you to backtrack between everything 5 times like some overworked paperboy.

A major problem with the level design is it just doesn't really correspond to what the situation is, that is, it switches at random between these claustrophobic areas where you can barely move because you keep getting stuck on the furniture, and rooms so big you could fit cp_orange inside of them, and of course, there's nothing going on, not like you can create interesting combat encounters with one enemy type, who is not employed effectively, either they're in every hallway when you open the door, or they appear when you reach the very end of the room, which becomes predictable after 30 seconds. Secondarily, I think the person who made this might want to double check when World War II took place - the line formation had long since gone out of fashion, but the enemies are nonetheless deployed in this way, and fighting line formations of chaingunners is about as fun as it sounds.

On map 3, things change, they abandon the Wolfenstein look, and go from "boring featureless level that looks a bit different to normal" to "boring featureless level", and that's as far as I got, they had taken enough of my time already, a mapset that's just abysmal, another 2/10.

[ICID]

24 minutes ago, Sena said:

On map 3...that's as far as I got, they had taken enough of my time already, a mapset that's just abysmal.

 

Not to spoil my own review but I think it's interesting and tellling that we both bowed out on the same level on this one.

[Scorpius]

16 hours ago, Walter confetti said:

 

I wonder if it's the same @Scorpius that did some maps for the 64 kb challenge...

 

I wish I was making Doom maps in 1996 but truth is I wasn't even born yet! It's great to know I'm not original though :/