Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #060

[LadyMistDragon]

Well, this took a few days! But I'm done!

 

Despair (2015) by Chris @ShadesMaster Oliveri (GZ Doom)

 

a 5-level Heretic .pk3 with plenty of Dehacked work. Pretty nice! The additional armor pickups are rather nice (Crusader Shield and Dragon Scale pickups make a pistol-start entirely possible, within limits of course!), Book of the Dead which makes a zombie from Quake sound, Sigil Scrolls which basically act as Chaos Sphere you can use whenever...and that's basically everything. There are also a number of Dehacked enemies, Serpents from Hexen, ice variety gargoyles, several different kinds of deadly wizards, a giant Weredragon that fires a ridiculous set of fireballs that's probably neutered by the sole place you can find him.

 

Map design is unextraordinary but not too bad. Although do-able from wand start, balance is clearly more geared towards continuous players. Although that does mean each of the 5 maps has at least a fair degree of challenge to it. Map 03 has the most impressive design most likely: the combo of caves with temples and mountainous forest areas would look very nicer if the scale called for it more. You have to admit that's a tasteful skybox though! 

 

Not to say any of the other maps don't impress with somewhat unique themes to Heretic (other than #1, please just forget it existed), but for instance, 05 just concludes things with 2 Maulotaurs when the difficulty up to that point was probably a bit laid-back for that. It's all quite fine though. The Dehacked helps to lift this a bit! 7.5/10

 

 

 

 

[Sena]

• 1 WAD | 1 map

Bloodriver Outpost (2012)

 

All in all, this is a pretty good level. Its opening is quite tough, but after clearing the central courtyard, it really doesn't have any comparable challenge after that point. Not to suggest that it's downright easy, good dodging is still vital, but even though health is relatively scarce, it feels much more controlled, never forcing the player to balance their attention among any more than a small handful of enemies. The lighting and atmosphere is all pretty good, although all the panels with yellow, blue or red fluorescent lights made me think they were connected to progression somehow, no matter how many times I pressed them, but nonetheless, this is a standard affair overall. Despite a few effects owing to modern sourceports, it is a level that may not do anything exceptionally different, or exceptionally well, but it has a solid grasp on the fundamentals, and sometimes that's all you need. 7/10.

[LadyMistDragon]

Jailbreak 0 - Example Wad (2004) by Dean @deathz0r Joseph 

 

Basically, this was meant to be a demonstration of an alternate version of the DM mode "Deathtag" which doesn't sound familiar to me at all. What's clear from reading the text file though is that there are two teams, one attacking and one defending, and there are certain doors which can only be opened by those belonging to a certain team. There are also green doors that will teleport players to a crusher if they go through it from the wrong end! Deathz0r suggests 4 players, but in either case, this concept doesn't seem to have been developed further, at least by this map's creator.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[LadyMistDragon]

(I should've done this yesterday, but well, it's how I avoid junk. Successfully?)

 

Below (1995)  by Neil McKellar (Crispy Doom)

 

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Reports of strange noises in the basement have brought you to a castle in Northern Europe. You go downstairs, gun in hand, to investigate, and now you're trapped there. It looks like someone's been busy redecorating the place, but that's ok. You have a few ideas of your own about color scheme. Time to get to work.

 

 

Once again, we are back to the 90s maps, but this one actually isn't too bad! So maybe I chuckled a bit at the silver concrete, but the use of torches is actually quite nice and while the vast majority of enemies are low-ranked, it feels at least consistent. Navigation is a tricky business admittedly, because Neil really likes using height variation in tight spaces for some reason and also inserts a few curious silver structures in the middle of darkened rooms. But in addition, there's also tan ruins and several tech sections as well. In one of the latter section is a series of cages, the one in the middle containing a Baron of Hell! Honestly, the plasma rifle is appreciated, but the 3 large cell boxes feel like such overkill.

 

This is also one of those maps where one really has to be observant of spotting different-colored walls in dark rooms, because at least when it comes to the  first key, it's required to reach it!

 

Now this isn't that difficult of a map....at least until we reach the fireplace right before reaching the red key and there are several Cacodemons and a Pain Elemental near some sort of sofa and thusly terrifying the shit out of you if you are one to jump.

 

The map technically concludes in a large marble room with a pyramid-type structure in the middle, but there's a rocket launcher behind the exit for a seemingly inexplicable reason, and what's more, remember the cells near the blue key? Well, a series of passageways will take us inside them, eventually leading to a remote lava-filled room with several monsters and a corpse hanging in the middle. Have fun being stupid here since the mass stores here are all but useless!

 

It's kind of bland when it comes down to it, but this also played kind of well regardless. 6/10

 

Spoiler

Video here!

 

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Roofi]

On 6/4/2023 at 5:50 PM, ICID said:

 

King's Palace v2 (2014) by Martin Bazley

 

Grade: 2/10

 

RCKETDETH (1995) by Ian Cawthray

 

Grade: 0/10

 

 

 

 

Oh I remember of those maps. King's Palace is one of the most unchallenging levels I have ever played and RCKETDETH, look at all those RL!  "Drool"

 

Year 2 Month 05 Day 17

 

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

 

[1] Trigger Happy by Andy Horne (1994)

 

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E2M1 :- Trigger Happy !!

This level is a semi-hard, very brain tasking level, it is the sort of level that you rip your hair out trying to find the secret doors/rooms, keys, etc., very bloodthirsty, if you like kick'n DEMON BUTT, this level is for you !!!!

 

This is the kind of wad where the author's custom resources importing skills are superior than mapmaking. This single level has a new gray statbar that I already saw in some other old wads, the popular midi from E1M1 while the level replaces E2M1, lot of silly sounds and the hellish sky from Inferno.

 

The level consists to an identityless keep mostly made of marble and wood. However, for a 1994 map, I wouldn't say this level hurt my eyes since the author managed to keep a rather texturing. However the unmarked doors make the progression unnecessarly obtuse.

 

I enjoyed the combats here and the plasmagun located just in front of you at the start add a lot of fun. I don't understand the purpose of the giant red-carpeted outdoor because it's just guarded by a lone baron. A cyberdemon would have been better !

 

Anyway, Trigger Happy is far from being a must-play but it's rather a tolerable experience for a 1994 map.

 

Grade : C (9/20)

 

I didn't have enough ammo to defeat the quator of barons in DEMISE's E1M8.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Ok, I got a DM set. Don't crucify me because it's actually pretty good!

 

MEGA5 (2009) by @Mr.Rocket Ron Goode (Eternity)

 

This was a demo for a planned DM project that included in addition to Mr.Rocked DOOMAD, Grotug, and a pre-fame Darkwave0000. There's only 3 maps, but all of them have a solidity of design with a strong understanding of deathmatch principles. The midi choices are also good, along with SFX replacements. The plasma rifle sound is one I honestly don't think I've heard before. The BFG sound does a cheesy alert thing that was probably unnecessary however.

 

Map 01: There's probably a little bit too much open-space. But it's nice to see 2 outdoor grassy areas at least. And is that grass or some sort of dried slime on the middle mounds. Very interesting in any case.

 

Map 02: Another techbase, largely made of concrete and with a structure that's easier to hide in. The Player 1 start is gazing out at a curious selection of crates.

 

Map 03: This one takes place in hell. Some cool-looking layouts, rooms which aren't completely symmetrical and some strong height usage make this the best one so far.

 

6/10 It's honestly quite good

 

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https://imgur.com/a/6kEBo3e

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[Endless]

Hydrogen | Jacek Nowak | 2019

 

 

A decently made E1 styled map with a boxy layout and a simple progression that throws you a few hundred demons at you. The map is pretty good for its vanilla-ish inspiration, yet the gameplay is a little lacking and ultimately feels too generic by the end of it, but, if you do enjoy this kind of style with Doom 2 madness, then it's worth checking out for a few 10-15 minutes of fun.

[DrRock]

Recycled by various (Boom, 2018) - Doom II

played in Zdoom 2.8.1 on Ultra-Violence

Spoiler

A seemingly obscure community project from 2018. Basically another one of those projects where flawed older maps get a makeover to bring them up to more modern standards. This was already covered just a few threads back by someone else, but here are my two cents on each of these maps.

 

Map 01:

Two small Malcolm Sailor maps stitched together to form a somewhat bigger map. Fusing these two makes this the definitive way to experience these IMO. The first half being rather easy and uneventful and the second half presenting some of that trademark Malcolm Sailor nastyness when it comes to putting high threat to relatively few monsters. I didn't appreciate the weird linedef activation for progress in the cavern and the switch puzzle at the end had me stumped since the last button required looked already pressed. A good opener otherwise.

 

Map 02:

Not really much to say here other than that this is a well made shootout with plenty firepower and enemies to use such firepower on. Fast paced and a joy to play throughout. My personal highlight of the lot.

 

Map 03:

Just a little too long for it's own good. There simply wasn't enough things of interest happening here for how long it felt as it went on. The two sections with copy-pasted little rooms could have easily been done away with for example. The musical score to me seemed almost comically overdramatic for such hum-drum action. I IDCLEV'd to the next map when I was defeated by Chaingunner bullets in a nasty trap towards the end. I'm pretty sure I didn't miss out on anything special in the home stretch of this one and don't feel bad for skipping it.

 

Map 04:

At first I was sure to declare this an easy slamdunk. Great sense of visuals and combat structuring right off the bat, so I had my hopes up high. The map continues to make good use of just about every square inch by either having monsters to deal with everywhere or simply have things look good. Things start to fall apart once one enters the impressive looking first crate section. It's possible to get yourself stuck behind crates when going to the utmost right, which is impossible to know beforhand without vertical mouselook enabled. Clearing this section also requires some trial and error in regards to some annoyingly placed invisible walls. I had to NOCLIP after my first succesful attempt since I could not replicate what got me through here. From this point on the difficulty ramps up considerably and the whole experience becomes a good deal less fun(for me at least). The low point being the second crate section which apparently is supposed to be done by cheesing it and hiding away where you came from and coming back down every now and then once the flyers have been dispatched. Here too can players get stuck behind crates, which seems a little careless given that this is a tune-up sorta project. I really wanted to fully sing the praises of this map but there are just a few too many annoyances that keep it from being to such standard.

 

Map 05:

Much smaller in scale and a bit more relaxed once the player gets through the cramped beginning and manages to clear the frozen outside area of foes. Ends with a nice shootout in an arena and provides what I assume to be the first BFG of the WAD. Secrets are plentiful and not at all hard to spot. Probably the map that will be the most to general Doom audience's likings.

 

Map 06:

If I had to name an analog to this map it would be one of my favorite IWAD maps and one that just about everyone hates: E3M7 Limbo. In that it's a cavernous map where the monsteres generally serve more as obstacles to your progress than being used for orchestrated fights. Overall an easygoing map that is sparse in detailing and high octane action but a nice breather before the next map.

 

Map 07:

Arguably the main event in Recycled, boasting over 3600 monsters on UV and lots of pixelated milage to traverse. HMP seems to be the intended difficulty here and players like me who stubbornly play everything on UV definitely should come here with carrovers in their bag. Having the BFG right from the start will make a world of differnce for the big first fight with the Cybie and other early parts. Other than that you're served a mixture of gated off slaughter scenarios, cover based clearing of monster formations in big areas and mixtures of the two. Visuals change up often enough to keep things fresh. The difficulty is rather uneven but never absurdly unfair. Still, with how long this map is I'd suggest giving yourself checkpoints before every distinct new part of this map. Be prepared to spend at least an hour and a half here or much more depending on how often you have to restart.

[Walter confetti]

Space Hulk Doom by David Biggs, Micheal Biggs, Neuromancer, Kalle Marjola and Christopher Taylor Oate - Vanilla Doom, 1995, SP , 5 maps, played with Eternity "forseti" 4.0.2

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A nice obscure episode based upon the Warhammer and Space Hulk games lore, a thing that i'm not completely aware of, but from what i saw it's not that bad, the layout design is nice and reminded me of Doom 64 design, only more brighter and amateurish. Also the usage of having only weirdly reskinned demons in a maze-like structure with only a cartoony chaingun and rocket launcher at your side is not the best choice for good gameplay imo. But overall is still a cute mini episode. I'm agree with @ICID impression of the DM map on E2M1, a pretty awful one.

 

Bridge1.wad by Lucas Ellison - Vanilla Doom 2, 1996, SP, 1 map, played with Eternity "forseti" 4.0.2

Spoiler

 

A small map with cute, basic design and few small doomcute parts like a little office area sets in a techbase in the middle of mountains with toxic areas, creepy warehouse and destroyable bridges, includes a new glass texture, the map is easy and extremely fluid in layout and gameplay form, fun small map!

[LadyMistDragon]

Doxylamine Moon: Overdose (2011) by Lainos (Crispy Doom)

 

Anyone who's gone over  the 100 Most Memorable Maps for any more than probably 30 seconds total (as opposed to skimming very quickly) may recognize the name Doxywhatsits Moon from the list. It originally appeared in the 2011 almost-megawad Sacrament, a supreme example of Russian surrealism that was named in the Top 25 missed Cacowards. So basically, one can expect nothing but quality, if not challenging action necessarily. This particular set takes the original, adds a fair few monsters and expands things out a little as well! There isn't too much different. But at the same time, the port facility with the yellow key, untamed woods and the Imps firing at us is a great backdrop. Theoretically then, one can finish this map in 10 minutes if they just shoot themselves straight to the exit (guarded by a Mancubi or two amidst a warehouse). Although the chances of that are fairly low Exploration and atmosphere are what this map's all about though. There are few situations where you might be even remotely tempted to use the hidden BFG if you find it. Of course, there still too many rooms in the buildings which can not be entered. But climbing the rooftops is nice, the subway started out near is appropriately grimy, and dodging through the large central park trying to avoid a Baron can be quite tense. This is really a case where one really doesn't mind a little bit of urban exploring. Better than the vast majority of Doom city maps in every conceivable way perhaps but there are reasons Sandy put an arrow on the ground in Downtown. 9/10

 

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Video here!

 

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[ICID]

Thanks for playing, everyone! Great to see some newcomers and some people coming back after a hiatus. Please enjoy the new thread: