Favorite TNT: Evilution mappers in order

[LadyMistDragon]

The mention of TNT mappers in the recent thread on Doom and Doom II mappers was amusing raised another question. Who in addition to the obvious names would be one's favorite TNT: Evilution mappers in descending order. It gets kind of tricky because many of these people only did one map, but I can sure as heck try. And anyone else can too!

 

Dario Casali

Tom Mustaine

Jimmy Sieben

Drake O'Brien (he'd be number 1 if 21 wasn't so god-awful)

Ty Haldemann

Andrew Dowswell

Milo Casali

Robin Patenall

Dean Johnson

Andre Arsenault

William Whitaker

Jim Dethlefsen

John Wakelin

Mark Snell

David J. Hill

Paul Turnbull

Jim Lowell

John Minadeo

Christopher Buteau

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[princetontiger]

Ty, for sure...  I have always enjoyed his maps.

[pcorf]

Dario Casali

Milo Casali

Ty Halderman

Jimmy Sieben

Tom Mustaine

[DRON12261]

In fact, TNT for me is the weakest official set of levels, except after Master Levels. But it does have a number of good maps, mostly in the first half of the game, almost the entire second half was terrible for me when I replayed TNT with a fresh head in December 2022.
 

So in my opinion I can't say favorites, but noteworthy:
Tom Mustaine (ParadoX) for MAP01, MAP10, MAP17 (best level in TNT in my opinion)
Ty Halderman (MAP04, MAP09, MAP13, MAP19)
Dean Johnson (MAP11, MAP24)
Jim Lowell (MAP12 only)
Paul Turnbull (MAP23)
 

As for the Casali brothers, their levels in TNT are definitely definitely not their best work, but goodness then they showed themselves in all their glory in Plutonia.

[cannonball]

I pretty sure there might be a few names missing. Brian Kidby is one (Map13, which is one of my favourite TNT maps).

[Book Lord]

Dario and Milo Casali are necessarily on the top of the list because they designed 36 out of 64 maps that constitute Final Doom.

 

Among the others, my favourites are:

 

Jimmy Sieben, he was the biggest contributor after the Casali brothers and all his work presented something special, MAP09 being the most memorable

Ty Halderman for MAP04 in particular, a very inspirational concept

Robin Patenall for his contribution on MAP03 and especially for MAP14, which I always found quite memorable.

Dean Johnson for MAP11 (MAP24 is not that impressive)

Tom Mustaine for no specific maps; I prefer his co-working efforts with dad in Paradox and Perdition's Gate, and even the 2 maps in Memento Mori. His TNT maps are good but I do not think are his best.

Edited June 27, 2023 by Book Lord

[Michael Jensen]

Outstanding:

1. Drake O'Brien

2. Ty Halderman

3. Jimmy Sieben

4. Brian Kidby

5. Jim Dethlefsen

 

11 of the 13 maps between these 5 are pretty much perfect, some of the all time best. Interesting note, 3 of them were also collaborations between Sieben and Halderman. Mill is also co-credited to Halderman, but is not included, because it's mostly by Dario Casali. Last Call isn't included because it sucks.

 

Very good:

6. Jim Lowell

7. Robin Patenall

8. Andre Arsenault

Excellent maps with only minor flaws. All the maps from the top 8, minus Mill and Last Call, plus Storage Facility (see below), are not only great maps, but also exemplify the unique aspects of TNT. It's heavy focus on atmosphere, adventure, exploration, semi-realism and implied narrative. All this sets TNT apart from the other IWADs and most PWADs, and is one of the best early examples of the community taking Doom into a new direction and pushing it's boundaries beyond what the original games did, while retaining their general format (no changes to the game itself). TeamTNT later pushed this above and beyond with Icarus (the best pwad ever), where ALL of the maps contribute in some way, which elevates even the weaker ones.

 

Good:

9. John Minadeo 

10. Dean Johnson 

11. William D. Whitaker

12. Tom Mustaine 

13. Dario Casali

14. Andrew Dowswell

15. Mark Snell

16. Milo Casali

17. John Wakelin

 

Solid maps on the whole, but they either aren't as memorable as the others (Mustaine's maps are very good, but generic and could be in any other mapset) or are lacking in either gameplay or visuals comapred to the best. Johnson's Storage Facility would put him in outstanding, but Quarry is one of TNT's weakest. Metal rules. 

 

Baron's Lunar Habitat:

18. Paul Turnbull

19. Christopher Buteau

20. David J. Hill

 

I didn't enjoy their maps in Evilution, but Hill and Buteau made some good ones for Icarus. 

 

I thought about doing another list, taking the work outside Evilution into consideration, but only major change would be bumping Dario and Milo just below Sieben. I always thought their maps in TNT were among their weakest. Pharaoh is great concept but the execution is lacking in places, Mill is a great map with a couple of fatal flaws and Heck is fine but feels completely out of place in the set which really drags it down. 

Christopher Buteau would also rise near the top. His only other map is one of the best ever, perhaps the greatest jump in quality between two back-to-back maps by one person. 

[netcurse2000]

Best:

 

Ty Halderman - Legend

Jimmy Sieben - Map06 and MAP09 is one of my favorites

Drake O'Brien - He'd be number 1 if outdoor part jf MAP20 wasn't so god-awful

Brian Kidby - Nukage Processing

 

Good:

 

Dario Casali for secret maps

Robin Patenall - I like MAP03 but i don't like MAP14

John Minadeo - I like MAP03 but i don't like MAP08

Jim Dethlefsen - Hanger

Tom Mustaine - MAP17 is one of my favorites

Jim Lowell

Andre Arsenault - Deepest Reaches is controversial map but I like it

 

Average:

 

Andrew Dowswell - MAP07 looks like a typical good beginner map

Dean Johnson - not memorable maps

William D. Whitaker - nothing special

Paul Turnbull - MAP23 solid, but not memorable

Milo Casali - not best his work

 

Habitat etc 

 

John Wakelin - MAP02 is one of worst maps of TNT

David J. Hill - incredibly boring

Christopher Buteau - Habitat is Habitat.

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by netcurse2000

[RonLivingston]

Well I know Dario Casali is my favorite mapper of TNT, but one problem is he forgot to put the yellow key in Pharaoh which is only put in Multiplayer

[princetontiger]

It's so interesting reading through this thread and seeing how people have different views, opinions on mappers.

 

Does anyone from TNT:Evilution map anymore? Is any of the team still active?

Edited July 3, 2023 by princetontiger

[LadyMistDragon]

1 hour ago, princetontiger said:

It's so interesting reading through this thread and seeing how people have different views, opinions on mappers.

 

Does anyone from TNT:Evilution map anymore? Is any of the team still active?

In a word, no. Dario Casali has talked of attempting again, but Tom Mustaine is a little too busy running a game studio to bother apparently, a few of them are probably dead (definitely two  of them), whereas the rest are scattered into places probably only connected to gaming in the most indirect sense.