Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #043

[LadyMistDragon]

Alive (1994) by Memfis (From Doom With Love)

 

After constantly getting 1 deathmatch map and one SP map that was usually 90s, it was such a joy to get one that was not only modern and good, but also by one of the more consistently strong mappers out there! Although,as @Thelokk would certainly love to hear,  I think the starting sector may be secret for some inexplicable reason because there is an actual secret on this map. It's kind of tricky to find, but look at the pile of corpses near the pair of bloodfalls, and you'll see a dead Demon on top of a teleporter.

 

Visual design is up to Memfis' usual clean and crisp standards. I really like the midi choice here, you can hum to it! I think that custom status bar was for an abandoned megawad project this might have been made for, Much of the map is located in a central courtyard, although with plenty of rocky terrain in the surroundings. There are several pools of blood here that are lightly damaging. There's also a tower with a Revenant that'll harry you for practically all of the map if you don't get the secret plasma rifle. The large chapel with the nasty hitscanner ambush can be a serious pain to handle but looks so nice.

 

Combat has a certain Plutonian lean to it like many of Memfis' more challenging efforts (Old Gold, his last known release, is a straight Plutonian love letter that also has an obnoxiously hard-to-trigger Supecharge secret) , but it's also more relaxed overall, other than Revenants being in inconvenient spots. The Pain Elemental that appears when access to the red key is granted can be kind of a pain though. Ammo is rather tight, so you'll want to keep watch on that.

 

Other than that, there's not much left to say. There's a few Cacodemons in addition to the Pain Elemental, but there are no more stronger monsters than that. 8/10, a little too interesting to deny.

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by LadyMistDragon

[Roofi]

4 hours ago, Clippy said:

Woodcraft review

 

 

Glad you liked my map !

 

Month 12 Day 17

 

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

 

[1]  Jays Gift <3 by @PumOwO (2020)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

Its my first map so dont expect much from it :( Its a 1 level wad made as a gift to a cute friend of mine!!! I got to know Doom thanks to him! I dont even know if it works correctly.. So If you have any advice that you want to give me or anything that helps me to improve, I would really appreciate it

 

Jays Gift takes place in a large underground complex where you visit heterogeneous areas. Why is there a giant wooden library next to a warehouse? It's Doom anyway, don't look too hard for logic.

 

This map has more or less 250 monsters and the combat tend to go slaughter-lite at some parts. The very first encounter consists to a massive floack of demons. Despite, being a first baby map, I enjoyed a lot playing Jays Gift because its author was generous with ammos and power-ups at the hardest parts of the map. For instance, Pum grants you an invulnerability sphere just before meeting two arch-viles. Moreover, I love how spacious the places are. It was a pleasure to navigate through the complex, except in the warehouse where you have to perform some precise platforming on crates.

 

I didn't struggle at all to survive all the traps but the amphitheater's final fight with the SM, arch-viles and pain elementals was extremly nasty but I managed to rush to the exit by doing an AVJ.

 

Jays Gift suffers of some blatant and ugly bugs but overall it was a competent beginner map. I liked it. However, while it requires Zandronum because of the custom actions, the level could easily be replicated in vanilla format both in terms of aesthetics and gameplay. The choice of an advanced port was unnecessary.

 

Grade : B

 

[2] Pigman's Deathmatch series by Pigman (1998)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

3 small levels with lots of neat tricks for DM

 

Three DM maps with radically different themes : the first one looks like a celestial marble temple, the second one a concrete base and the last one a brown castle made of bricks. The texturing and architecture are polished. I like that.

 

[3] Deck01.wad by Ryan Polczer (1999)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

- A deathmatch on Deck01 of the Starship Enterprise NCC1701-D.

- This file is a "demo" of a larger wad that I made for Doom2 called "ncc1701.wad". Ncc1701.wad uses over 300 new bitmaps, 55 sound effects, and a dozen new level-maps to depict the look and feel of "Star Trek" (it is a 2.8Meg download...)

Since people are often reluctant to download such a large file without first knowing what they will be getting, I have prepared this "demo" to give users an idea of what my "total conversion" is all about.

- Actually, I had a lot that I wanted to show off in this "demo" wad; but in the end I thought it would be best to "think small" and to just reproduce ONE setting from the TV shows, that would be the most familiar to as many people as possible.

Since the bridge of the Enterprise-D was probably the most well-used set in all of Star Trek (it was certainly the most "photographed"), most people already know what it is supposed to look like. I thought that would make it a perfect choice for a "demo".

 

Primarly designed as a deathmatch map,  his recreation of the starship from Star Strek can be played in singleplayer mode thanks to the presence of enemies , an exit and a progression requiring keys. Whereas the use of the stock Doom 2 textures don't always fit with the futuristic theme, the author did a good job at creating circular and curvy rooms. The custom textures, especially the control panel's one and the starry sky help at setting up the theme though.

 

Gameplay-wise, you start low on ammo if you don't know where the hidden caches are located. It was frustrating to punch some histcanners and I almost died while killing a chaingunner with my fists. I loved exploring that small demo map.

 

Grade : A-

 

[4] The Ultimate Doom Metal Replacement Vol. 3 & 4 by Mr. Chris/Glaice @Armaetus (2014)

 

Quote

So you like Doom and metal, right? You have come to the right place because what is to be heard is some super heavy, pulse pounding metal replacements for both Doom and Doom 2.

There is black, death, doom, thrash, stoner, folk, heavy and a tinge of grunge in the contained files Volume 3 & Volume 4.

Song list is contained within the uldmso34.txt included in the archive.

Future volumes may come due to the abundance of MIDI files to still go through! 2,800 or so!

 

It's a file containing two music wads I already got during Month 2 Day 3. Do you like metal and are you looking to a midi for your map? You should give a whirl to those compilations.

 

I was looking for ammo in Nihilo but a cacodemon bit me.

 

Spoiler

[Thelokk]

7 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said:

Although,as @Thelokk would certainly love to hear,  I think the starting sector may be secret for some inexplicable reason because there is an actual secret on this map.

 

I just can no longer cope :S

 

 

Compound-087-B by g0ustoff (2012)

GZDoom / UV /100% kills / 100% secrets

 

 

The name of the map reminds me of when they wanted to name Snakes on a Plane, Flight 121 or something. I mean, come on, some imagination please!

 

I never really bought into the whole SCP thing. What was, at first, a clever thought / worldbuilding experiment has long since devolved into a reason for the usual OCD suspects to fill page after page of a wiki with whatever shark-jumping thing they can come up with. Cool idea, terrible execution.

Kinda like this map, which is actually not a Doom map at all. It's a partial conversion, placing you in the role of a marine having to retrieve some critical intel from an SCP infested compound. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Well, it's not. The 'compound' is two square rooms connected by a corridor, dark as heck and barren of any kind of feature, save for a gratuitous and useless UDMF slope. The 'SCP' is some kind of invisible ZScript imp that will one shot you, the 'intel' is a red key, and the escape is literally you choosing at random one of three teleporters, one ending the level and the other two taking you back to the start, like, twelve yards back. Then the invisible SCP will one shot you, end of story. If you manage to escape, enjoy the infodump text screen.

An attempt to try abstract horror in Doom, and failing miserably. Go play The Thing You Can't Defeat if you actually want a good analog horror Doom experience.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Roofi]

Month 12 Day 18

 

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

 

[1] Lankhmar 1.0 by Ben Noel (1996)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

A rather large level with lotsa everything. It is my first wad but don't be fooled. I have put many long hours into it. So much so that I decided that I would upload it now in fear that it would never be released. Don't get me wrong. I know of NO ERRORS or any sort. Anyway, you have three of keys/doors present each is different. One level is an exact duplicate of a level from Under World II. The others your have have to find out for yourself. Almost every hidden door/etc. has been indicated by an odd colour something or other or an offset brick/whatever.

 

It's time to explore a dark and ugly giant castle built with marbles. You have to find 3 keys in order to reach the exit whereas the yellow key wasn't mandatory in my playthrough though (you obtain it when the exit is already unlocked). However, Ben noel likes hidden doors and he placed ton of them in the whole map. Some of them lead to secret areas filled with goodies and unfortunately some of them conceal the paths leading to the keys. I've seen worse in terms of obscure progression, but this level is likely to annoy you if you're not used with 90's shenanigans.

 

However, despite its flaws, Lankhmar was a fun experience for me. The author placed a lot of weak ennemies and lot of health and ammo in order to defeat them eyes closed. Near the end, you open two giant monster closets full of ennemies located in a deep pit and Ben noel gives you an invulnerability sphere in order to go nuts with your most powerful weapons without worrying to get killed. The whole map is extremly easy anyway.

 

For some reasons, Ben noel added a lot of goofy sounds which obviously contrast totally with the gloomy ambiance of the map. About the guns' sound, they are good. I really like them. The shotgun and SSG sounds notably come from Quake. About the monsters, it's stupid to say the least but I love it when killing lots of enemies results in an incomprehensible hubbub because of the sounds that cut off due to their length. Also, I love when your character says "What the fuck is that?!" each time you get a power-up. Epic.

 

I dont think Lankhmar was a good level regarding the "standards" but some combats designs and the stupid sounds made the level a lot more fun than I expected. Also, a bonus point for the mediocre house you can visit after getting the red key.

 

Grade : B-

 

[2] El Castillo del Misterio (Mistery Castle) by Jack the Ripper (2013)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

Is a castle. Play it in Ultraviolence and you'll see..

 

A castle made of green marbles I have already reviewed and played on DOSBOX during Month 8 Day 16. I decided to max this map on prboom (100% kills and secrets). I just realised this map only has 26 monsters (but 7% of them are cyberdemons !).

 

My opinion doesn't change. I still think it's an unsubstantial yet enjoyable map. The bloody maze is no interest and contains random damaging floors in a specific part , but the combats against the cyberdemon was pretty cool.

 

Grade : C

 

[3] Lethe by @hobomaster22 (2007)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

A decent sized map inspired by Plutonia

 

Lethe figures among the rare limit-removing maps using Plutonia as the iwad. It's also the most detailed Plutonia map I have ever played (I don't count Plutonia-themed level using Doom 2 as iwad of course). While being qualified as "decent sized" by its own author, Lethe is quite long and adventurous. Take at least 20 minutes to explore all the places and reach the exit, it's way larger than any map from Plutonia.

 

Hobomaster also said it was inspired by Plutonia. It's indeed very easy to recognize the jungle theme thanks to due to the exclusive textures of this iwad. However, he decided to give a new look by bringing a lot of details and using the classy red sky texture from the episode 2. Even for 2007 standards, I found the result extremly polished and the faux 3D bridges are my pet peeves. I loved seeing them even if you can't go under them.

 

About the progression and the layout, I think it's here where hobomaster moved away the most from Plutonia's mapping style. Lethe emphasizes a lot more on exploration than the combats and favor the extension rather than the compacity since you traverse a lot of bridges, long corridors and large rooms. While being inspired by Plutonia, Lethe feels like a map designed for TNT evilution, without all its flaws of course ! Also, Although it is possible to encounter occasional arch-viles and be trapped in elaborate traps, there are many small enemies that are not arranged in an "optimized" way, if I may say so. Moreover, the Doom 2's midi "Into Sandy City" was used in TNT evilution but not Plutonia, so it reinforces the feeling to play an interesting mixture of Plutonia and TNT level design.

 

At the end, I can say Lethe is a competent exploration map using the Plutonia textures. The aesthetics are high-quality , even for 2007.

 

Grade : A-

 

[4] WOD DEATHMATCH DOOM LAUNCHER 1.2 by Tim Potter (1995)

 

Quote

WOD is a program designed to speed up the loading of DOOM deathmatch levels by automatically transferring wadfiles and command line information from the person starting the game to the other players. I don't know about anyone else, but we used to spend an inordinate amount of time mucking about making sure everyone had the same wadfile and restarting games because people didn't type in the right parameters etc, etc, when they started up DOOM. WOD attempts to solve this hideous and criminal waste of DOOM players' time.

 

I suppose WOD launcher was extremly useful when Doom Deathmatch was still trendy and when players were forced to play on original DOS.

 

 

[5] Harbor by Alex Brown (2000)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

The wad is of a harbor. It has a dock, a library, and a church.

 

Harbor, which doesn't resemble a harbor , except the small dock, is a mundane Doom 2 map where you explore detached and boxy buildings worthy of the USSR era. The buildings' apparence are so unimaginative that they don't make you want praying in the church or reading in the library. Anyway, esthetics are far from being the strong point of Harbor even if enjoyed strolling in the vast outdoors.

 

About the gameplay, it's ok even if you easily run out of ammo if you don't exploit infights between the most resistant monsters (cacodemons and revenants.) You should look for the secrets hidden in the library because they're easy to find ammo and reward you with backpacks, a chaingun and bullets. That's always a plus.

 

 I think Alex definitely lacked inspiration while concepting this level but it remains enjoyable, and I always appreciate when mappers attempt to create "realistic" locations.

 

Grade : C+

 

[6] Skulltag Community LMS Project by Various (2005)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

7 maps by 6 authors, all themed for LMS. Wad made in two weeks. The maps are FFA-compatible and should we played with at least 4 players, some maps can handle even over 8!

 

This 7 maps deathmatch wad is quite heteroclite but feature interesting themes such as outdoors ruins at map 04 , an oil-rig at map 05 or a extra terrestrial arena as map 07. Some maps use mp3 music and I would like to know the source of the strange midi used at map 02. That music really intrigues me. 

 

Anyway, I sometimes like going through small DM mapsets like this just to have new ideas of themes and visual settings.

 

I got locked in a nasty explosive trap in THELIFT.WAD

 

Spoiler

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Roofi

[Thelokk]

I wanted to do something different today so, instead of a WAD, I am testing a randomly rolled mod! Well, I am also truing out a WAD, but whatever, you got the idea. 

 

Super Doom Guns (v2) by Richard Cheung

 

Richard Cheung's mod sets out to 'remedy the greatest flaw of each gun', as following:

 

Pistol: faster, 400 ammo capacity

SG: full auto

Chaingun: firing rate doubled

RL: smaller rockets

PR: see-through explosions

 

Making, in theory, Doom's guns closer to their real-world counterparts. So yeah, nothing too extreme, but enough to make a difference. I decided to test the mod with... you guessed it, a randomly rolled map, which happens to be:

 

Rust by @Obsidian (2019)

GZDoom / UV / 100% kills / 100% secrets

 

Pretty good map to test the mod, as all affected weapons outside of the SG are featured (I tested it later with IDKFA and, well, the difference in speed was too little to notice, certainly didn't look like a full auto). Obsidian's map is a slaughtery tour de force through a blooded abstract facility, featuring their signature skull cube decorations, that annoying plasma marine enemy, and an even more annoying ghost-like monster ('vengeant', tells me UDB) that spits out caco balls chaingun-style and explodes in mancubus fireballs when killed. Rather difficult map on UV, extremely non-linear in its development, which I would have enjoyed if, as it often happens with me, the dehacked additions didn't feel out of place and, ultimately, forgettable. 

 

I have to say I am a bit puzzled at the mod's functionality, as it seemed to make... very little difference. Sure, the chaingun is a little faster, but not so much as to make the hordes of imps and hitscanners any less of a threat than the regular chaingun can already manage. The RL projectiles do feel a little smaller, resembling the Supercharge ones if you tried that mod, but the damage stays the same, so not sure what the point was meant to be. The PG is ridiculous, it spits out transparent pills that explode in bizarre purplish stars. Just silly. Only the pistol, with its increased speed, ends up being rather overpowered, and would probably trivialize any WAD in the UD range of difficulty. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Thelokk

[Roofi]

Month 12 Day 19

 

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

 

[1] M_ROOM.WAD by Kevin Searle (aka Monolith) (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This is not an original level! I modified someone else's! I take abolutely no credit in the design of this wad. The original was unique and fun as hell, but I grew tired of the same old weapons and look, so I "made" this.

 

M_ROOM is a greenish arena of the shape of a celtic cross designed for short and frantic BFG/PG fights. Grab one of the megaspheres and the invulnerability before your opponents do so and be pityless against them !

 

 

A spectre blocked me in the darkness in Blackout

 

Spoiler

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Abyssal Speedmapping Sessions 45 (2019)

 

Another ASS set! So the gimmick for this one is..all damaging floors. This is really going to suck, isn't it?

 

Map 01: FUCK this map. No, but joe-ilya misfires so badly here, I have to wonder when the goal became "make as unplayable as possible. There's only 1 non-secret rad suit, ammo is quite sparing and the linear hallway where foes be poppin' from both ends is certainly a pure RNG grind. The final battle with the slime pillar in the middle actually fells like a serious relief after this - until I found out I'd blown some rockets that would've been very useful against a pair of Arch-viles I assume appear toward the end.

 

Map 02: Much better! So there's still a healthy amount of luck and the um circulatory-shaped map is also decently stocked with health. Although pressure is still quite pressing. Monster placement is spot-on

 

Map 03: MDevlin brings us this largely open, health-stocked map that still packs a wallop if you're not constantly moving. The Masterminds here are actually quite a good fit. And I really like the bloody floor combined with furturo-industrial aesthetic

 

Map 04: Walter once again makes a community map or something. I don't care though. There's actually a decent amount of rad suits and the layout here is circular, so it's not terrible difficult.

 

Map 05: Seems quite laid-back at first until you get to the lift which drops down and you're confronted by an Arch-vile and Baron. To be honest, the monster placement doesn't seem very deliberate here.

 

Map 06: The Mionic Donut brings it once again! There's actually tons of rad suits, thank god, Possibly the hardest map. Once again circular but with clever use of height and spot-on monster placement. The pair of closets with the Imps and Arch-viles near the lift that goes down so slowly (pure RNG bullshit at least one instance) while a Cyberdemon fires in your direction while you pray he's not too aggressive. Infighting is not only encouraged but required. And don't get me started on the triple Arch0vile BS here at the end.

 

Map 07: Well, this doesn't make lots of sense. Probably among the best maps here, but after rocketing a far-off Mancubi and pressing a switch, progression got weird

 

Map 08: I don't know who this rdpwa indivjual is but this map feels like a happy accident of sorts! Outdoors, some cool pillars with the hardest bit but you generally feel you can take anything here. Kind of circular, but there's lots of stuff here. for 30 monsters I guess. The Arch-vile was pretty nastily placed though. Be aggressive with the Rev, be be aggressive. Be aggressive...fuck I gotta go

 

 

So this is just not as good as 43. Like 7.5/10 or so. Not everyone can be TMD unfortunately,

 

And look, I didn't take any pics. But trust me, it's all butt-ugly anyway

 

PS - Ok, added a thing from three. ARE YOU HAPPY??

 

Spoiler

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by LadyMistDragon

[smeghammer]

Here we are again, after a longer hiatus :-)

 

I found a very short, but actually quite nice map by @THMG  (I assume this is you, mate?)

 

3D Entryway:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/0-9/3dent

 

An easy map, played on UV, 100%. Nothing jumped out as wrong or misaligned, some nice 3D floor usage. I liked this one.

 

Played on GZDoom, here's my playthrough:

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by smeghammer

[Thelokk]

UAC Training Base by JONATHAN RENNIE-MCCORMACK (idea by Jeff Harasimoicz) (1996)

GZDoom / UV / I guess 100% kills technically? / 100% secrets

 

Well now, what really surprises me about UAC Training Base is how it took a grand total of two people to come up with could be a contendant for worst map on /idgames. This is not hyperbole, I mean it. In fact, hyperbole might be calling 'a map' two STARTAN rooms with a teleporter, a half-damaging slime pit, and a STARTAN corridor that ends in... nothing. There are no monsters, there is no exit, the secret consists in a soulsphere you get by humping the single wall with a different texture. 

I just don't get it. Ok, it's 1996, making maps in DEU or whatever was probably a pain in the ass, but couldn't you at least drop a couple of imps? or an exit, so we could at least call it a NoMo map? Puzzling and pointless. 

Final touch: 'no bugs, but if you find one email me'. On an /idgames upload. /facepalm. 

 

 

 

Screw it, you get one pic and I'm not even gonna spoiler it. 

 

 

[Shanoa]

Deranged by @xdarkmasterx, released in 2021. Played with LZDoom on UV, this is a Doom II replacement for MAP01.

Status: Completed

 

This map was good! I'm guessing the author simply decided to create the map for DOOM II due to the extra textures not found DOOM while using a texture wad from the first game, i'm not sure the readme has 0 detail beside that it's been tested in Chocolate DOOM. The map mostly make use of DOOM monsters, the only DOOM II enemy is a group of chaingunners that simply end up killing each others, giving you a nice early chaingun. Visually it looked nice and reminded me of E1 through E3 of DOOM. It mixes each episodes themes very well in a decently sized interconnected map that isn't difficult to navigate. 

 

Spoiler

The starting area.

 

A fleshy section of the map, close to the exit.

 

Of the 200 enemies you'll mostly battle Imps, zombiemen and shotgunners. There's maybe a single spectre, the aforementionned chaingunners, 3 or so barons and 2 lost souls but that's it. Despite the many zombiemen and shotgunners, ammos can still be tight due to the numerous imps and the map does not contain any boxes of shells nor boxes of bullets...possibly. The reason I say "possibly" is because I have only found 2 secrets out of 3 or 4. One of them was a simple invisible sphere and the other contained light amplification goggles. The third secret COULD contains ammos and health, maybe. Speaking of health, I feel it didn't had enough and that's my one issue with the map. While the opposition is fairly "weak", so to speak, sooner or later one of them will take a well-placed potshot at you and you'll lose health. I counted maybe...45%-55% worth of health across the entire map, perhaps it was the mapper's intention. If so then whew, I had to play carefully near the end, especially in the red skull key room, despite acquiring a rocket launcher. That aside, it was a fun map and i'm glad I played it, give it a try if you want!

 

I'll be posting a review per day for the next 2 or 3 days, considering I haven't done a lot lately, instead of my usual once every 2 days.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Shanoa

[LadyMistDragon]

DAGGER.WAD (1994) by Ducien Palomado (Eternity)

 

Welcome back to 1946 when people were playing Doom on gigantic mainframes, where monotonous walls of puke-green were considered fashionable and where door alignment was only a dream!

 

All kidding aside, this is probably on the less annoying side of '94 maps. Which says nothing about its visual tendencies - whenever it decides to depart from the aforementioned green marble, it largely carves out spaces that show some horrific visual taste and basically have no rhyme or reason in the visual sense at all. Also, putting the red key in a room basically next to the red door was some very odd progression, as well as putting a blue door right behind the red one.

 

The last room makes the best effort at something memorable, a star-shaped platform that we certainly never had enough of, along with Imps everywhere, including in a shiny red, cross-shaped nook. But not only is the exit hallway tagged secret for some reason, it's completely unmarked! You're saying we're supposed to guess at the difficulty from the amount of enemies? 2/10 I guess.

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Roofi]

Month 12 Day 20

 

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

 

[1] Kill Them all by Neuromancer (1995)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

(Story) Deep in the Amazon Rain Forest you are hunting

 

Three ugly Ultimate Doom DM maps which don't take place in Amazon Rain Forest at all. Moreover , I had to launch E1M3 with Gzdoom because of an error with subsector and even if you manage to launch it with the most modern port, you can see flying warning sign and blatant hom. Also, the file name is totally uninspired.  Please make an effort !

 

[2] Hard until reply tested (Hurt) by Hard until reply tested (Hurt) (1999)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

This is our second product. As said, no real story behind, but yopu need some strategy and discipline to succeed without cheating. Collect all possivle ammo and health. You will need it.

 

If you like square rooms, this wad is for you ! This wad contains 5 maps and all of them consist to a lot of squarish room linked together in a totally inconsistent way. Well, it's not uncommon at all among 90's wads.  So, here is my totally unpredictable opinion : I enjoyed playing this wad.

 

Even if maps look total crap compared to modern standards, I like how much rooms you have to explore and some places really show some innocent creativity. Also, the lack of detail and empty areas allow you to quickly navigate without effort. Moreover, the authors gave you lot of ammo, free megaspheres and sometimes several invulnerability spheres just to fight a single cyberdemon. Therefore, most of the wad proves to be unchallenging for the most part. Some surprise crushers might kill you though. However, it's the kind of wad I can enjoy when there is no challenging to not say frustrating situations.

 

I think my favourite map was map 03 which is a kind of city where you enter in lot of buildings from the "streets". I liked this map for its size and the high emphasis for the exploration.

 

Anyway, it's the kind of stuff only shovelware addicts can enjoy , and I did.

 

Grade : B

 

 

[3] Big Bomb III by David M. (1997)

 

Spoiler

 

 

Quote

I'm 6!!!!! Desciptions are NOT what I do.

 

Big Bomb III is an hideous underground maze where you start among pinkies and zombiemen chasing you whereas you have no ammo nor health. Fortunately, it's easy to escape but its very young author (which isn't anymore) didn't make at least a single effort to make his level a bit visually worthy.

 

After you went through the metal part, you enter in a marbled area and things go a tad better. You meet a lot more powerful monsters such as barons or a cyberdemon but David floods you with power-up and especially the invulnerability spheres. Take some of them, rush to the exit, and throw this wad to the bin.

 

Grade : D

 

[4] Recession: Dead Island by Joe Becht AKA RecidivuS (1999)

 

Spoiler

 

 

A kind of town square lost at the middle of the ocean , with a fountain of slime at the middle and 4 buildings surrounding it. The gimmick is simple : Recover three keys guarded in three of the buldings in a determined order to unlock the exit in the fourth one. Whereas I liked the concept. The level is terribly lacking in content and ends in less than two minutes. If you replace the keyed doors with regular ones, it totally looks like a small DM map since all of the weapons are located at outdoors.

 

Grade : C+

 

[5] The Reactor by Toast (1994)

 

Spoiler

 

Quote

Scene The site of A fusion reactor. Situation: CRITIAL; An infultration team entered the reactor a day ago to check on reports of missing personel and strange happenings with the equipment. A half-hour ago, all the power went out in the nearby colony. You've just been ordered to go in, along with your partner, and investigate.

Upon entering, you and your partner immediately find yourselves under a rain of heavy gunfire. You managed to dive outta the way, unfortunately you can't say the same for your partner, you look up just in time to see him look at you for help, hand reached out toward you. *KA-BOOM* Your partner's body falls to the ground lifelessly.

Rage fills every part of your being as you look up at the enemy, and then total horror hits you. Your partner was just gunned down by one of the members of the infultration team! NO TIME TO THINK!! *KA-BOOM* The shot rips through your shoulder.... You unload three shots into the person standing before you.

As you examine the body of the man you just killed, you are horrified when you notice the condition of the body. "Three bullets couldn't have done this much damage?!" Well, no matter, you know what you were sent to do, and you know you can't trust anyone else you meet here.....

 

The sad part of the story written by Toast is that you will spend more time reading it than having fun on this map. Also, it's another old map where I got the strange problem with subsectors , forcing me to launch the wad with gzdoom. 

 

So , how to resume this wad? It's full of ugly startan, boring, and frustrating near the blue key because of the death pit and the barrels placed just next to it. The single worth of attention is the spiral staircase which could belong in a doom contemporary art museum.

 

Grade : D

 

Got cowardly killed by a hungry demon after trying the "redoom special" difficulty from Redoom

 

Spoiler

[Thelokk]

HELLBLAST by Blastman (1996)

GZDoom / UV / 100% kills /100%  secrets

 

 

Been getting mostly mid 90s stuff lately...

 

 HELLBLAST is, sadly, nothing more than your average monotonously textures, thoughtless combat offering from '96 (from my random /idgames experience, a rather average harvest that year Doom-wise, thankfully I had already moved on to Quake by then). The map is advertised as 'large' and 'full of secret areas', which is all true; except that, for each large, barren area you have a cramped, yet equally barren corridor. Texture work is hodgepodge, running from concrete sprawls to misaligned castle moats, through a cheap Mt.Pain knockoff that contains a good half of the map's enemies (they're just imps, and the barrels there will take care of them).

 

You are never in real danger of dying, except when you come across... you guessed it! packs of 5-6 shotgunners! No armor of course, so at least a couple of them are bound to crit you and mow you down for no good reason whatsoever. The few featured Doom 2 baddies are inconsequential and unthreatening, given you are in possession of an SSG, a RL and a PG when you meet them - in fact, I consider an achievement making an encounter featuring not two, but three pain elementals absolutely toothless.

 

And now, for the best part - the progression. Almost every progression point is placed behind a wall that is textured exactly like the rest of the room you are in: expect to spend most of the map humping every nook and cranny until you finally obtain a RL... and are expected to use it in a cramped, 60 light level corridor. For real? Well, at least once you get past that and the cheapo Mt.Pain you get the blue keycard, so you can open the blue door and get... another blue keycard. Wundabar. 

 

Every '96 map makes me realize what a fucking blessing in disguise the TNT people were. As occasionally weak their maps might have been, they're nothing compared to the horrors I keep coming across...  

 

Included is a shot of the only room worth capturing (sorta):

 

Spoiler

 

[Misty]

Upload Template by Ty Halderman (2001)(updated in 2015)

Your old good upload template by the man himself, one of his many other contributions in community. There's not much to say about this - everyone who frequently uploads or downloads stuff from idgames familiar with this text file. These days, permissions/copyright section is under creative commons attribution 4.0, where under older days it would say you may not use this file and etc. 

 

Blimmo4.WAD by Sigurður Ingi Sigurjónsson (2001) 

 

4 linear levels for doom 2. Difficulty isn't too bad, plenty chaingunners, cacodemons, pinky demons and barons of hell to dispatch before they get you. Also, levels themselves don't take much time to beat which is good for quick break session. Visually it's your default doom 2 look with only starry sky as exception. It also has nice, minimal sector work. Anyway, I recommend to give a look and judge for yourself.

 

Spoiler

 

[Womp the Cat]

On 10/4/2022 at 3:10 AM, Thelokk said:

EDIT: tomorrow I'm so playing Chambers of Dis. A map made by Trey Azagtoth? 0-0

 

 

 

 

Not feeling up to playing roulette this evening, so I'm going with one of @ICID's random picks.

 

The Day of Chains by Serious_MOod (2016)

GZDoom / UV / 100% kills / 100% secrets

 

Damn, I wish my friends' presents for my birthday were this cool. Made as a cadeau for Chaingunner's birthday, The Day of Chains consists of two E2 themed maps, which is already a guarantee of quality - E2, or as I call them 'the Backrooms of Doom', is by far the best UD episode. So yes, we're talking techbase meets hell, and it comes with all the trimmings, including a few custom textures and decorations. 

The first and main map, 'Bitter Place', is legit one of the best looking maps for UD I've ever come across: superb texture arrangement, complex layout, amazing lighting sector work. The combat is fun too, and tough as nails - health is very limited, and ambushes are aplenty. Mob density per square pixel is super-high, and manages to turn even the usually toothless UD combat formula into a battle for survival. A particularly nasty cacodemon / lost soul ambush managed to catch me off guard and flattened me a couple of times. The second map is just a the end/thank you thing, but it still looks cool as hell. 

Hats off to Serious_MOod for crafting one of the best, albeit short, UD experiences I have come across. Oppressive and fun. 

 

 

Love an E2 Homage, gonna run through this for sure!

[Shanoa]

Maniac (DOOM ][ PWAD) by Pete Barnett & Steve Crowder, released in 1997. Played with LZDoom on UV, this is a DOOM II replacement for MAP01.

Status: Completed

 

A 2 people effort! Unfortunately, the map isn't really good. For starter, each rooms are rectangular shaped with very little height variations. There's no specific theme beyond "I guess i'll use those textures for a room".

 

Spoiler

The room right outside the starting area.

 

The first courtyard (photo above) mostly contains Imps and shotgunners with chaingunners on an elevator. Each elevators include a switch that, when pressed, lowers each of the middle sectors until you can acquire the SSG. The switches are set as repeatable trigger so mash that "Use" key until you can't. You could also opt to ignore the SSG because 1 or 2 rooms later you'll find 2 of them right next to one another, inside some rectangular room with a small 32 units tall, computer maze, which also contains a rocket launcher. Enter the teleporter and you're now fighting in a room with lava for ceiling, blood for flat and firewall for walls, it's also the final room with the red key in it. It's just a crowd of all sorts of monsters, including 2 PE, 4 mancubus, some lost souls and so on. There's a megasphere, another rocket launcher, a plasma gun with more than enough cells and a megasphere. You'll be done in no time.

 

Spoiler

The final room.

 

The level also comes with a couple custom sounds. The weapon pickup sound has Doomguy go "Fuckin' a!" every times. Pressing "Use" on wall sound like "i'm tired", killing lost souls plays "hasta la vista, baby" and pinky plays a line about doing 25 pushups. Yeaaaah...skip that one, it's not worth it even if the map has 5 or 6 room at most.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Shanoa

[LadyMistDragon]

Save the Road (2014) by Misaki Fukimoto (eligrand1) (GZDoom)

 

I've gone for so long without getting a Terrywad, so I suppose it had to happen sometime. Picture a typical texture mishmash of NSFW crap (penises are everywhere, often inserted between breasts, dopey cartoon expressions), and you'll know what this is about. Rectangular rooms with few monsters that probably add to the joke here. Completely harmless, but also stupid trash, the silly music being the best part. Rest in your own drunken  piss after you're done beating your wife Terry. Or just die. I can't care anymore. 0/10

 

Alondo's Vehicles (2009) by Alondo1 or Alan (GZDoom)

 

Collection of various mech-style player's replacements. One is the crusader robot from Strife. Another one is something called the Reaper. There are a few other classes too. Some of them move very slowly. They all have rather overpowered starting weapons and enough ammo that much of the challenge is neutered. For instance, the cluster missiles I believe are fired by either the crusaders or the uac bots. Other weapons from the #4 slot onwards are all basically the same. The BFG replacement is about as suitably overpowered and area-effecting as you could hope for though - better watch out! Probably best to play in areas with lots of wide-open spaces for the slower ones. Does seem like it could be good for most slaughter maps though.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by LadyMistDragon

[Thelokk]

Sewer by @Krankebok (2022)

GZdoom / UV / 100% kills / 100% secrets

 

Fresh off the press, uploaded less than a month ago!

 

Have you ever happened to come across a map that you can't really decide whether it's just a disappointment, or one of the greatest feats of mapping you ever encountered? this is the conundrum I have to face when reviewing Sewer, a map by Krankebok that apparently reproduces in its entirety the sewer map form DnD's Eye of the Beholder. To be honest, looking this up online I can see the very close resemblance. 

 

Now, appreciation of this map depends greatly on how you approach it, and what you expect to get out of your Doom experience. This time as well I have included a single screenshot from the map simply because... that's the map. And I mean it - corridor after corridor of that exact same texture, mirroring the layout of the DnD game map. No variation, no deviation: if I didn't know about the source material, I would have thought that the author simply copy pasted the same corridor times one hundred. There are plenty of silent teleporter tricks standing in your way, and a wealth of fake walls, usually leading to a secret sector - a carryover from the source material, I assume. Combat is fully incidental and ammo is scarce, so much that towards the end I pretty much Tysoned my way through it. 

 

Still... I can't say I hated this map. Sure, as a traditional Doom experience it has almost nothing to give, but, in the year of stuff like The Thing You Can't Defeat... it just offers a different experience, that I would almost classify as liminal. Corridors meld into each other, after a few minutes you are simply lost and yet you keep going, seeking a way out of an endless maze always similar to itself. It skirts with boredom, yet it always falls on the side of the unnerving and strange. Bizzarre and fascinating, I wish I could play more stuff like this. 

 

Spoiler

 

[Endless]

Not in my courtyard | By Memfis | 2011

 

Memfis is a mapper that has reached quite the prolific quality due to its numerous output of various single-level WADs that are usually small and compact. This map follows a similar pattern while also paying tribute to the classic MAP18 from Doom 2. It is, to put it simple: Pretty damn good. The visuals have lovely vanilla flavor that bleeds charm due to its tribute quality. Visually pleasing and easy on the eye. Memfis has shown to be quite apt at making levels that have an earthy feel, without going into realism, he does still succeed at making them look grounded with a little bit of consistency and doom cute here and there.

 

The gameplay in this little map is simple enough while also improving upon the original. It starts tight with little ammo, but evolves slowly to reveal massive battles with sufficient ammo to go around. It is above average on HMP, and it is also quite fun.

 

Recommended it for a fair share of 10 Doom quality minutes.

[Shanoa]

Debrecen by @HUNdebLeonidasX, released in 2016. Played with LZDoom on UV, this is a DOOM II replacement for MAP01.

Status: Completed

 

A fun, realistic city map inspired by the author's hometown! You'll be fighting through some alleyways which often leads to much larger open areas. The gameplay is much stronger early on while trying to go after the red keycard because the entirety of the outdoor segments are all dedicated to it. Your first goal will be to reach a very large main street for said key but there're multiple routes to get there, which all lead to a different part of said street.

Spoiler

The starting area.

 

Vantage point from one of the route you can take.

Visually the map is well done, it uses textures from CC4 as well as from Rockstar Games. There's also some funny signs (seen on the 2nd screenshot) around town. There's quite a few Doomcute presents. You can see stores with TVs behind windows, there's a shop with a chainsaw, green trash containers there's a lot to see!

 

 Gameplay wise, the early fights pit you against the usual low tier monsters, especially shotgunners. You get a chaingun fairly quickly so most of these encounters will be cleared rapidly due to enemies being on the same height level as you so your hitscan weapon will mow down opposition even when they're far, far away. You'll be quickly maxed out on shells (pre-backpack) so ammos is never an issue. As for health, the map contains 3 soulspheres (maybe more but I did not find any of the 2 secrets) which is a bit much considering the level is slightly on the easy side because you'll never really be met with an horde of high level monsters.

 

Later on, you'll fight inside a movie theater. Outside you can see some "movie" posters like "Heretic", "Hexen", "Going Down", etc and that made me chuckle.

Spoiler

Okay that's cute.

 

Overall, it's a great map while I feel it loses some steam after acquiring the red key there's no denying care went into making this map. The level contains around 170 monsters and while not difficult there's always some actions waiting around the corner. I'd say you're looking at a good 15-20 minutes of gameplay with this one, give it a try!

 

Bonus Doomcute!

Spoiler

Cute park area with the sandcastle and silver roundabout. There's also some soccer goals in the distance.

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Shanoa

[Thelokk]

42 minutes ago, Shanoa said:

Debrecen by @HUNdebLeonidasX, released in 2016. Played with LZDoom on UV, this is a DOOM II replacement for MAP01.

Status: Completed

 

A fun, realistic city map inspired by the author's hometown! You'll be fighting through some alleyways which often leads to much larger open areas. The gameplay is much stronger early on while trying to go after the red keycard because the entirety of the outdoor segments are all dedicated to it. Your first goal will be to reach a very large main street for said key but there're multiple routes to get there, which all lead to a different part of said street.

  Hide contents

The starting area.

 

Vantage point from one of the route you can take.

Visually the map is well done, it uses textures from CC4 as well as from Rockstar Games. There's also some funny signs (seen on the 2nd screenshot) around town. There's quite a few Doomcute presents. You can see stores with TVs behind windows, there's a shop with a chainsaw, green trash containers there's a lot to see!

 

 Gameplay wise, the early fights pit you against the usual low tier monsters, especially shotgunners. You get a chaingun fairly quickly so most of these encounters will be cleared rapidly due to enemies being on the same height level as you so your hitscan weapon will mow down opposition even when they're far, far away. You'll be quickly maxed out on shells (pre-backpack) so ammos is never an issue. As for health, the map contains 3 soulspheres (maybe more but I did not find any of the 2 secrets) which is a bit much considering the level is slightly on the easy side because you'll never really be met with an horde of high level monsters.

 

Later on, you'll fight inside a movie theater. Outside you can see some "movie" posters like "Heretic", "Hexen", "Going Down", etc and that made me chuckle.

  Reveal hidden contents

Okay that's cute.

 

Overall, it's a great map while I feel it loses some steam after acquiring the red key there's no denying care went into making this map. The level contains around 170 monsters and while not difficult there's always some actions waiting around the corner. I'd say you're looking at a good 15-20 minutes of gameplay with this one, give it a try!

 

Bonus Doomcute!

  Reveal hidden contents

Cute park area with the sandcastle and silver roundabout. There's also some soccer goals in the distance.

 

 

Played this one too in one of the past /idgames! I'm starting to get the feeling that, once DM maps and mods are removed from the equation, there might actually be fewer wads than most think...

[Shanoa]

10 minutes ago, Thelokk said:

 

Played this one too in one of the past /idgames! I'm starting to get the feeling that, once DM maps and mods are removed from the equation, there might actually be fewer wads than most think...

Could be! In my case I usually skip mods, DM maps and terrywads so i'm probably more likely to end up playing something that was played already by someone else.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Shanoa

[Roofi]

Month 12 Day 21

 

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

 

[1] Q3 Arena floors and walls by Chris "Dragon" Pisarczyk @Armaetus (2000)

Quote

Here's a small number of textures from the Q3 arena demo. I will make a larger one when I get the retail copy of it.

 

Another resource wad I got from Armaetus. This little texture pack can help you making detailed rusty gothic themed levels.

 

Exemple of a texture you can find :

 

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/734053518742126672/1030140908898889780/BASE11.png

 

[2] Klendathu1 - Operation BugHouse by Squonkamatic for the People!! (1999)

 

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/Azbmias.png
https://i.imgur.com/IA0hD8y.png
https://i.imgur.com/h4n61wL.png
https://i.imgur.com/NiQbYcL.png

 

 

Quote

BugHunt on Klendathu with no plasma weapons.

 

You explore kind of swampy landscapes populated by spiders. You start near all the weapons you need and a megasphere. However, the level is so unchallenging that you can beat it with only your SSG while not losing one single health point. The IOS at the end was pointless but funny.

 

Pretty amusing map but I don't see the link with Starship Troopers.

 

Grade : B-

 

 

[3] Uplink by Zoltan Schmidt "Katamori" @Katamori (2016)

 

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/29p1hxl.png
https://i.imgur.com/QSsgaAT.png
https://i.imgur.com/yXD5cem.png
https://i.imgur.com/Ut3xvN4.png
https://i.imgur.com/kWJcTqR.png
https://i.imgur.com/O3FXjSO.png
https://i.imgur.com/F3RFSL1.png
https://i.imgur.com/kMq7OjC.png
https://i.imgur.com/upd9jnw.png
https://i.imgur.com/XJLByyK.png
https://i.imgur.com/7SOKwla.png

 

Quote

Three maps taking place in a virtual reality infected by Hell.

Made in January-February of 2015, these were inspired by various cyberpunk, vaporwave, and other, similar sci-fi music and artworks - in fact, it was intended to be the part of a bigger mapset that couldn't happen eventually.

I wish I could tell anything else, but that's all: finished maps waiting in silence for almost two years.

I hope you enjoy them after so much pause! Good luck!

cc4-tex.wad fully included, with some textures replaced by own creations.

Music:

"One Must Fall 2097 - Menu v1.1" MIDI Maebashi Station - Chicago Skaven - Walk it off Deus Ex: Nihilum OST - Queens, ambient track

 

A very cool and unique minisode I already played during  Month 10 Day 28. I decided to play on uv-max whereas I didn't find all enemies in map 02. 

 

I don't have a lot of things to say compared to my past review, I still think more or less the same. However, the cyber fight among the crampy corridors in map 03 was trickier than in my memories and if you want at least one chance to kill all the pain elementals at the very end of the wad, you have to save a lot of ammo.

 

There is only one secret to find in the whole wad, it's a bit a shame for a wad like this.

 

Grade : A

 

I blasted myself like a idiot with the RL in DyingCamel's Demons #1

 

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/M0KjFtD.png

 

[Thelokk]

Mysterious Hellish Castle by @Roebloz (2021)

 

GZDoom / UV / 100% kills / 100% secrets

 

A very short, vanilla-ish speedmap replacing E1M8 - bonus points for featuring "They're going to get you", my favorite UD track. Aside from that, the map is a divertissement that goes by relatively quickly and inoffensively: you get to shotgun a baron, there is an interesting (and, if I may say so, slightly unfair) crusher trap, and the vast majority of the enemy count is met in a final green marble arena, where you are given a BFG but can use a spider momma to do all the dirty job in your place. Better than average, but its nature as a speedmap shows. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

ZFactory (2011) by Callum Guy Oliver (Eternity)

 

I mostly know Callum as that guy who died and who apparently made lots of maps for Doom: The Way id Did, most of which ended up in the collection PhobosDeimos Anomaly. The latter was actually the pick for Iron Eagle last month. Someone notes the amateurish, yet,  fun nature of most of the maps and Deimos especially had some fun ideas. But I'm not sure if PhobosDeimos is necessarily all that well regarded.

 

But anyway, this is a little speedmap that he made for Doom II. It's sort of pointless to talk about the visuals because it's your average techbase mishmash, but that collection of blue pillars was quite interesting, and there's also quite a bit of time that you'll have to spend running down slime rivers. Combat's not especially difficult and you get a decent amount of health, so it actually isn't that bad.

 

Speaking of combat, it's only bad at the beginning where you have to dodge several hitscanners with somewhat limited cover. Else, it's not really worth talking about. Although try heading to the window to the right of the chaingunner hall and watch them all kill themselves. Annoyingly, the one secret is located in another pool of slime that you must walk out of. Speaking of, progression is weird since you have to head behind the starting location in order to reach a slime river which loops around and lowers some bars blocking the blue key.

 

Toward the end, Callum can only sick Mancubi at you, but you have a rocket launcher with not quite enough rockets, so they aren't that much of a challenge.

 

Decent amounts of fun with a few little neat bits of detail. It's strangely endearing, and something I'm probably undeselling. It doesn't last too long though. And it was good while it lasted 7/10

 

Spoiler

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by LadyMistDragon

[Misty]

The temple of death by Patrick Carosso (2011) 

 

The temple of death is one short level for Plutonia iwad. It features 3 linear key pathways, plenty of secrets and of course chaingunner, revenant and archvile trio as we are used to it. Plenty of encounters can be cheesed, because most of monsters are on high alcoves, making them quite harmless. Couple things I can think more as negatives are some lack of stimpacks for more laid back gameplay, but that's just me, also it's only tested on zdoom even if maps don't use much advanced features and tends to hide mapping errors. Visually, I prefer Plutonia's textures over Doom 2 ones, because of more variety and different sky. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Jacek Nowak (jacnowak)]

Containment Area v1.1 by J.C. Bengtson (SailorScout) (1999)
GZDoom | UV

 

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

The map has 666 ;) monsters on UV and it's pretty large. I played it in two sittings. On the first sitting I reached the exit and it took me ~30 minutes play time not counting deaths. I had 3 keys out of 6 at that point and around 450 monsters killed out of 666. So a huge part of the map is optional. I came back to the map on the next day and finding remaining 3 keys took me another ~30 minutes. I finished with 2/8 secrets and all but 30 monsters killed.

 

The map is Boom-compatible but ZDoom is recommended according to textfile. It is a tribute to original Doom E2M2 and it's obvious from the start. But here we have a much larger version of it. Visually the map looks good and the theme is consistent. Layout is interesting, you return to places you've been to before and generally the map flows well. I like the element of exploration in it and it's actually quite amazing that I never got lost despite the map being huge. It's a great example of a large classic map that doesn't have problems with progression despite being large and to some extent non-linear. I think those maps are rare.

 

Combat is all right but it's not the strongest element of the map in my opinion. There are lots of hitscanners so you need to move carefully and methodically kill them. I wish I could push forward a bit faster and fight more monsters at once, particularly as there was often ample maneuvering room. Also, there are a few cyberdemons but not a lot of cells (maybe it's because I haven't found most of the secrets) so I ended up super-shotgunning most of them and that just takes a long time and gets repetitive. Still, there are some interesting encounters here and there and I enjoyed the map and had a lot of fun exploring its vast storage areas.

 

Footnote: only after writing this review I looked up author's name and I found out that the map was included in Top 100 WADs of all time :) I'm actually glad this knowledge didn't change my impressions from the map :)

 

@ICID - An unrelated question I'm asking just out of curiosity - how are "adventurers scores" calculated? Is it just 5 points for each WAD or something more complex?

[Silhouette 03]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:27 AM, Roofi said:

[3] Lethe by @hobomaster22 (2007)

 

Oh hey, I covered this map a week(?) ago. It's a really solid map. Thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

[LadyMistDragon]

UAC First-World Facility (2017) by OVERKILL_Adam (Eternity)

 

A reported recreation of the First World Bank map from Payday and Payday 2, which also sounds suspiciously similar to the super-secret map of Japanese Community Project. This one takes considerably more creative liberties with how it uses default textures to build a seemingly corrupt facility. Although I feel like it wouldn't be that long before backup was called, depending on whether the entire territory was overrun with demons, but story and Doom don't go together, or so all the nerds tell me.

 

Anyways, this is an incredibly strong effort for a first map. I'm sure it helps copying another layout but that doesn't take away from the sheer amount of effort it must have taken to make something like this. You might run across a curious misfire every now and then but mostly, it's really great to look at. There's quite a bit of Doomcute, for better or worst. And the Disturbed midi works out far better than you might guess, probably because Dan Donegan is a great arpeggio player, even though I think his music is shit.

 

Combat at first almost seems stupidly easy. While you eventually pick up a chaingun from a dead chaingunner, the super shotgun is witheld from you for quite a long time, and meanwhile, you've got to fight off some Hell Knights and Cacodemons that don't thankfully come out in large numbers. Eventually, after passing through a teleport section, you'll find the SS in a vault, though it's usefulness doesn't become immediately apparent.

 

When you pass into the auditorium with the portal though, the map's teeth slowly start to show. After fighting off the ambush, you'll pass through the portal into something seemingly resembling a digsite. As you progress,  the hell section continues to harry you and make you think far more than you might otherwise. Visual design is simple through most of this but it's incredibly on point. The chapel here is pretty cute, and there are two doors that can't both remain open at once  (well, if you open the right door with the rk anyway). The difficult-to-find switch opens a room with some nasty enemy placement and a long sequence of events that we'll just say is necessary for picking up the plasma rifle sitting on top of the tomb. There's one instance of needlessly lengthy backtracking though.

 

The other room though, has a massive bloodfall in the middle which lowers and reveals a Spider Mastermind and Cyberdemon in addition to the other enemies here. Unfortunately, there's also an inescapable lava river that's really easy to miss in a corner. After this, you can pick up the red key.

 

More backtracking later, you pass through a series of tight corridors and fights only challenging if you hate claustrophobia. Although you do have to face down a Cacodemon and Baron of Hell in a slightly more open area before you can enter the truck and get the hell out of here! There are quite a few exit signs here, but see, they're all entirely appropriate!

 

Fun map, with a few minor problems mainly relating to combat flow. Still probably 7.5/10

 

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Shanoa]

poppys.wad by Thomas Bringle, released in 2000. Played with DSDA DOOM on UV, this map replaces MAP03 in DOOM II.

Status: 100% completed

 

Another fun level with some tricky fights, occasionally! Right off the bat you start in front of a shotgunner while being surrounded by a few other enemies so you immediatly gotta defend yourself. At least you gain acces to 50% health should you require it.

Spoiler

The starting room where the action immediatly start.

 

One seizure inducing staircase later you've hopefully already cleared the next room from inside the starting room, if not you'll contend with some extra hitscanners but that also mean a chaingun! The next area also put you in a rather unfortunate spot because right behind you, after jumping into the pit, is lava and you have to battle a couple spectres while making sure you don't overstay your welcome in the lava. For your trouble, and depending how you've handled the rest of the room, you'll have some ammos and an SSG. You'll notice, as you play, the map loves to surprise players with sudden ambush upon teleporting into an area.

Spoiler

Another one of those "surprise, it's ambush time" room.

 

The map only has 1 secret and it's hard to miss and it yield a nice plasma gun + 100 cells, by now you should also have a rocket launcher. The room with the yellow key has about 20 or so pinkies popping out of the floor but they'll die super fast with the plasma gun. There's one last room to contend with and lies beyond the yellow door, some big open area with a Cyberdemon at the end, there's enough cells to take care of him, should you have not found the secret a BFG is provided near the exit doors.

Spoiler

Totally not a trap!

 

Before I conclude, you can softlock yourself from progressing, I'll try to explain how. In the room, following the one from the second screenshot posted, you can go down a staircase or jump out of a window, both lead to the same area. Thing is, if you jump through the window, clear the enemies, then proceed to the next room by teleporting, you'll end up softlocked because you can't teleport back. The way it's designed, you should instead go down the set of stairs due to a linedef that lowers a wall with a blue key behind it AND also a wall that connect the next area you teleport to, with the starting room. Going through the map a second time, with notarget on, is when I discovered the issue. It's not like you're dissuaded from jumping through the window, at most you'll land in front of 3 spectres that will probably be out of the way because you're forced into a surprise ambush when you first enter that area, so the "activated" spectres will already be on the move trying to reach you making it kinda safe to jump out instead of going down the "intended" way. I'm guessing this was an oversight. The map is already linear, which is fine, but this is a case of "go exactly where the mapper want you to" linear.

 

Despite this, the map was fun. Visually it's ok, the outdoor area has the most interesting detailing to it, with wood pillar sticking out of the walls and whatnot, beside this the map has quite a few square/rectangular rooms but at least height variations was present. There's about 158 monsters, excluding lost souls, it's a fun map to kill time with, just beware of the softlock.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Shanoa