Realm of Chaos 2: The Revenge of '96! Full Megawad development thread

[Steve D]

25 years ago today, The Macintosh Team released Realm of Chaos, the first Mac-made megawad. Now, in a rare opportunity, 2 of the original mappers, myself and Rob Berkowitz, his son, Leo Berahovich, along with a team of veterans and fans of RoC, have combined to create Realm of Chaos 2: The Revenge of '96! 

 

 

Story:

You teleport down to a remote mountain base and find it bombed-out by Hellspawn. This is just the beginning of your journey through a conquered Earth. Your adventure will take you from military bases to an arctic fueling facility as you terminate the invaders with extreme prejudice.

 

Once you've helped to free Earth, you follow the Hellspawn to their homeworld. Here in the outposts of Hell you'll encounter fierce resistance as the demon hordes battle desperately for survival.

 

Finally, you follow the zombie scum to Hell itself, or is it just another corner of their depraved homeworld? Who cares when you have demons to kill! But Lord have mercy, they are waiting for you. They've gathered their forces for several climactic battles, and they want your blood!

 

Contributors:

OGs: Rob Berkowitz, Steve D

 

Mapping Crew: @cannonball, @Capellan, @Chris Hansen, @dobu gabu maru, @Doom_Dude, @Jaws In Space, @Jayextee, Leo Berahovich, @Liberation,  @purist, Rob Berkowitz, @Steve D, @Szymanski

 

Music Crew: @AD_79, @Cammy, @Eris, @JDoyle, @SynDoom, @Varis Alpha

 

Compatibility: Boom-compatible

  

Map List:

01: Drop Zone, by Rob Berkowitz & Steve D

02: Choose Wisely, by Jaws In Space

03: Waterfalls of Love, by Steve D (incomplete)

04: Bloodfest Base, by Doom_Dude

05: Dead In The Water, by Steve D

06: Reclaim, by Liberation

07: Deadlock, by Capellan

08: Military Center, by Jaws In Space

09: Edge of Disaster, by Jayextee

10: Marines Don't Cry, by Steve D

11: Snow Assault, by Leo Berahovich & dobu gabu maru

12: Mosh-Pit of The Demons, by Rob Berkowitz

13: Isle of Despair, by Rob Berkowitz & Chris Hansen 

14: Hunting Lodge, by Steve D

15: Death by Degrees, by Steve D

16: Europa, by Jaws In Space

17: Tower of Treachery, by Rob Berkowitz & dobu gabu maru

18: Go With The Flow, by Szymanski & Chris Hansen

19: Skyland, by Jaws In Space

20: Los Números del Diablo, by dobu gabu maru

21: Hell Is Where The Heart Is, by Rob Berkowitz

22: Cyberdance, by purist & Steve D

23: Acidosis, by Szymanski

24: Soul of The Damned, by Steve D

25: I Gotta Wear Shades, by Rob Berkowitz & Steve D

26: Basaltic Springs, by cannonball

27: Circle of Madness, by Rob Berkowitz & Chris Hansen

28: Heart Full of Napalm, by Rob Berkowitz

29: No Pity, by Steve D (incomplete)

30: Fearsome Engine, by Capellan

31: Sanity Is A Prison, by Leo Berahovich & dobu gabu maru (incomplete)

32: Triple Darkness, by Rob Berkowwitz

 

Notes:

The original plan was to upload this megawad to idgames tonight, on the 25th anniversary. Alas, severe IRL issues, starting last September, cost me 8 months of mapping time. The current release target is sometime in January or February 2022.

 

RoC2 has undergone alpha testing, and a first beta should appear in late November/early December.

 

The style of this megawad is oldschool with occasional fashion-forward maps. The mix is eclectic, similar to the original RoC, with broadly defined episode themes. Difficulty ranges from mild to challenging, especially in the episode-ending maps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Steve D

[E.M.]

This looks really cool. I take it this will be limit-removing?

[dobu gabu maru]

HELL YEAH. Good job putting everything together Steve

 

Just now, E.M. said:

This looks really cool. I take it this will be limit-removing?

 

Boom compat, actually. Was able to make a fun puzzle due to that :)

[Egg Boy]

most unexpected sequel award goes to...

[Cammy]

Congrats on the announcement! I'm really excited for RoC2 to see the light of day.

[Steve D]

25 minutes ago, Egg Boy said:

most unexpected sequel award goes to...

 

There's another surprise coming . . . 

[FEDEX]

Congrat. for this! my k-only friend :D

[Steve D]

35 minutes ago, E.M. said:

This looks really cool. I take it this will be limit-removing?

 

Thanks for asking. I made this post half-asleep, so of course I forgot to mention that it's Boom-compatible. ;D Fixed now.

[Lila Feuer]

I feel like I was the only person that played RoC at least a couple times or so years and years ago, because I was starved for D2 megawads, even the mediocre ones. I don't really remember anything outside of the first level, I'll have to give it another look sometime. Certainly amusing to see a modern day sequel after all these years!

[Arrowhead]

Screenies looking damn good @Steve D !!

 

Excited to eventually play this, I enjoyed the first Realm of Chaos quite a bit!

[VoanHead]

god DAMN this looks good. Can't wait for it to drop.

[Steve D]

50 minutes ago, Arrowhead said:

Excited to eventually play this, I enjoyed the first Realm of Chaos quite a bit!

 

I'm super-thrilled you enjoyed the original RoC. Here's hoping you like the sequel, too. :)

[Biodegradable]

Those screenies look delicious. I'm definitely hyped!

[cannonball]

Glad to see this nearing completion. I certainly enjoyed participating it making a map and a little bit of playtesting here and there, even if it was late in the day. There is a real nice blend of styles in there so there should be something for everyone.

Edited November 1, 2021 by cannonball

[galileo31dos01]

I liked RoC and I quite like seeing this one will include new music, eager to check it out!

[joepallai]

Super excited for this; Realm of Chaos was a lot of fun for me.

[Syn]

Let's jump on the hype train! I can already tell this will be good, though I've never played the original. Might have to now, though.

(Don't forget I made a MIDI for it too, lol)

Edited November 1, 2021 by SynDoom

[Walter confetti]

Congratulations @Steve D and gang, this looks like a impressive feat!

[Firedust]

Looks awesome! I kinda had a feeling you were secretly working on a RoC sequel. Looking forward to playing it immensely.

 

The cacoward crew can breathe a short-lived sigh of relief because this year has already been ridiculous enough with all those releases xD

[Steve D]

3 hours ago, SynDoom said:

Let's jump on the hype train! I can already tell this will be good, though I've never played the original. Might have to now, though.

(Don't forget I made a MIDI for it too, lol)

 

D'oh! My apologies, SynDoom. Fixed now. And btw, I want more! ;)

[Andromeda]

Wouldn't be a RoC sequel without the cute sprites ;)

 

2021 keeps on giving in terms of Doom content, very much looking forward to getting my hands on this!

[Pirx]

12 hours ago, Steve D said:

25 years ago today, The Macintosh Team released Realm of Chaos, the first Mac-made megawad. Now, in a rare opportunity, 2 of the original mappers, myself and Rob Berkowitz, his son, Leo Berahovich, along with a team of veterans and fans of RoC, have combined to create Realm of Chaos 2: The Revenge of '96! 

 

 

 

kinda mordeth's revenge  ;)

[Noiser]

Looks pretty cool, I love the screenshots!

Edited November 1, 2021 by Noiser

[P41R47]

@Steve D

you made one of my dreams come true!

I love the first ROC, and those screenies are totally mindblowing.
Thanks for this all the team.

The most wonderful surprise this year for sure.

[Steve D]

15 hours ago, P41R47 said:

@Steve D

you made one of my dreams come true!

I love the first ROC, and those screenies are totally mindblowing.
Thanks for this all the team.

The most wonderful surprise this year for sure.

 

Thanks! I've very much appreciated your comments on RoC. Here's hoping we don't keep you waiting too long. ;) Btw, you'll want to snag Cammy's 25th Anniversary Edition of Realm of Chaos, which will feature a full OST plus some visual tweaks. I've been consulting on this for months and it's gonna be cool..

 

 

@Andromeda as you can see from the blue shotgun shells, we have those sprites, though some have been modified a bit. And there might be a few surprises . . . ;)

Edited November 2, 2021 by Steve D

[P41R47]

8 hours ago, Steve D said:

Thanks! I've very much appreciated your comments on RoC. Here's hoping we don't keep you waiting too long. ;) Btw, you'll want to snag Cammy's 25th Anniversary Edition of Realm of Chaos, which will feature a full OST plus some visual tweaks. I've been consulting on this for months and it's gonna be cool..

stop it, Steve!
you gonna kill me of overjoy!!!

Also, i was checking the different authors of the maps slots.
CAPELLAN at map30!!!
Caco sensei unleashed!!!

This promises to be really fun!!!

Edited November 2, 2021 by P41R47

[Cynical]

On 10/31/2021 at 9:41 PM, Steve D said:

The style of this megawad is oldschool with occasional fashion-forward maps.

So, does that mean it'll have Pestov Platforms? :D

 

 

[Andromeda]

It's not a true RoC sequel without a Pestov Platform or two... ;)

[Steve D]

@Cynical @Andromeda

 

There's no way RoC2 can be released without at least one Pestov Platform. This one appears in Map03, Waterfalls of Love, and I copy-pasted it from Slava's Map05, Mission Control, in RoC1. I re-textured and re-purposed it, but it's a true Pestov Platform from Slava himself. It's currently the only one, and there's still detail work to do around it, but I'm looking for a way to put another one in somewhere.

 

[Dynamo]

I'm super excited for this project as a big fan of Realm of Chaos 1! Would be great to see Pestov and Fowler return as mappers for this too, but it's already so incredible to see Rob and his son involved with this :D