ICID Posted June 26, 2023 (logo by @4MaTC) ICID, what the hell is this now? Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures is a small project of exploration, interaction, entertainment and reviews where we meet once every two weeks to select random WADs in search of hidden treasures, lost promises, or our worst nightmares! We use the /idgames archive’s special feature that lets us search for random files. Of course, sometimes the results are resources or unplayable stuff, so we focus on looking for WADs. So, what do we do here? Play at least one random WAD in a two-week period of time. WADs are selected using the Random File feature on /idgames or from the list below. Post a review of whatever you play. Always provide the name of the WAD, the name of the author, and a link to the file. Play however you want, on any skill level, and with any source port, as long as you play the WAD as intended/in working shape. Be respectful. It's okay to criticize a map, but remember that many mappers read these review threads and behave accordingly. Also, please don't tag mappers into a negative review of their work. What kind of WADs are we looking for? Any file on /idgames is fair game, but most of us choose to stick to singleplayer Doom or Heretic WADs that work in our sourceport(s) of choice. If you're worried about finding Terrywads or broken files, I also pull at least five random WADs for the event. Feel free to play them with me if you wish, or look for your own! The point of the event is to encourage you to explore this vast, random world. Recommendations for reviewing: Spoiler Please take screenshots or video of your adventures. Commenting the source port and difficulty level is not required, but provides helpful context to your review. Try to stick to no more than 1 WAD per day to avoid burnout, but this part’s all up to you, champ! Reviews of all formats are valid. Both longform and shortform are good as long as you write with integrity. Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures of this event: Moonsong Doom Incarnate: E1M1 and E1M2 Raging Waters (Note: this is a Heretic WAD.) Kohe 11 ALPHA 1 Trilogy Spoiler 1. @Roofi | 6895 2. @LadyMistDragon | 3520 3. @Sena | 2525 4. @Walter confetti | 2290 5. @ICID | 1350 6. @Endless | 1175 7. @brick | 1125 8. @Thelokk | 725 9. @Clippy | 535 10. @smeghammer | 425 Join the Doom Master Wadazine community for more events like this! » https://discord.gg/Q2RKn4J And check the Doom wiki for the full list of past adventures. 5 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted June 26, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 22 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] SSTlevl1.wad by Nik Pilkington (1998) Quote Quote sstlevl1.wad Is a start to my multi-level wads which I will be adding music sounds, sprites, the works. prison Type wad Opinions, comments, suggestions to grizzlebrach@hotmail.com! A sort of "Prison Break" kind of map. After being sentenced by the demonic forces for "war crime", they sent you in the ugliest and the most 90's looking prison they have in their corrupted world. Your goal consists to clean all the over-sized rooms and escape somewhere. The map is actually pretty fun. A lot of enemies to blast with the super shotgun and all the zombies help filling your backpack of shells and bullets. Some bosses must be defeated but they represent no danger because either they lose the infight against the mid-tiers foes or they are stuck in their place so you just have to shoot them until they die. I died once in this map months ago and indeed, the biggest danger in this map is the stupid booby-trapped fake-exit. You see a hole using the sky texture and of course, your mind instantly tells you it's an exit. However don't run into it because it's just a dead pit and it serves no purpose except to fool you. Anyway, the action is pretty fun but the Alcatraz Prison looks like one of the 7 wonders of the world compared to that rubbish-looking prison. You're more likely to lose the taste for life if you stay here for too long. Grade : C (9/20) [2] Tallon.WAD by Ken Sumner (1994) Quote Without wanting to paraphrase the existing comment on idgames, I will say Tallon.wad is just a bunch of square rooms with lot of monsters and darkness. I killed only 77% of the foes and found 20% of the secrets but the shotgun was my exclusive weapon from what I played. Whereas watching a cyberdemon and Spider Momma infighting was an epic spectacle, I almost died because the SM won and I had no to cover except staying away far from its shots. And problem : I lose health if go too close and I can't inflict damage if I stay too far. On Dos, it seems that, contrary to ports, the hitscan weapons become uneffective from a certain distance. Fortunately, the SM was very diminished because of all the Cyber's rockets took in the face but it really was an unexpected close call. Coming back to the level, I had fun shooting the enemies. Doom doesn't need refined combats scenarios sometimes. Killing stuff is itself a source of fun but that's it. the visuals are not horrible for 1994. I don't know how to convince people to play these levels after discovering Lullaby or BTSX series. Hm... Grade : C (9/20) The starry sky killed me in The Crusade , Damn. Quote 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted June 26, 2023 17 minutes ago, Roofi said: The starry sky killed me in The Crusade , Damn. Ahah that's a genuinely fun phrase. I want a t-shirt with that on 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
brick Posted June 27, 2023 (edited) Brick | 2 wads | 2 maps Moonsong (2016) by InsanityBringer. 1 SP map for vanilla Doom II. Played in GZDoom. This is apparently a map made by the author to get the hang of making layouts, and for a first practice map it's not bad at all. The detailing is very vanilla but well done, rooms look distinctive and uncluttered, and the layouts are memorable and it makes navigation very straightforward. I really like the sky with the oversized moon, it makes outdoor areas look striking and there are some nice ceiling architectures that make it stand out even more (I'm a sucker for those crisscrossing metal shapes especially in simple vanilla detailing, Gene Bird used them to great effect in many of his maps). I don't think there's any skill balancing but the map is not hard, there are several ambushes but nothing too onerous. There are several revenant fights but all of them allow you to backtrack and hide from homing rockets. The very last fight against the archviles took me by surprise (on second thought I should've seen it coming!) but there's cover to hide behind. The exit "room" has a radical visual shift that works well to convey nonverbal storytelling. Those looking for a challenge may be disappointed but it's a relaxing and lighthearted exploration map with good atmosphere and a lovely Jimmy MIDI. As a first map I thought this was great. Spoiler Doom Incarnate: E1M1 and E1M2 (2007) by EANB. 1 SP map for Doom I in Boom. Played in GZDoom. @EANB is a mapper that I practically discovered through ER/IWA and for whose style I gain appreciation the more maps I play. This one is from quite early on and before an apparent 7-year hiatus. The description made me imagine a straight mashup of the iconic IWAD maps but it's actually a lot more subtle than I expected. The homages are there and are very obvious, but the map takes creative liberties with how the pieces are strung together and how each one is interpreted, which makes the experience of going through it novel despite the familiarity. The start room will be immediately familiar, as is the computer/blue room, but there's connective issue in-between that looks different and has enough meat to stand as its own original setpiece. Some of the areas are also repurposed quite originally, the supercharge/chaingun secret is of course here but you access it through very different means; the chainsaw secret is similarly familiar-but-different. The famous zigzag passage is more detailed and not where I expected to find it. In fact there are several familiar landmarks that appear in a completely different context, the megaarmor-in-toxin is an obvious one, some of these came across as whimsical and I appreciated the humour. I really liked the way the exit works, the exit door is unmistakably E1M1 but the exit room itself is pure E1M2. The whole thing looks like Switcheroom and Doom The Way We Remember It had a child (or maybe decided to adopt a child). Gameplay is a little spicier than the originals of course but doesn't stray far, after all it's Doom E1 so nothing beyond the RL and a limited bestiary. It's still a a cool concept perfectly executed and I had a great time with the map. Spoiler Edited June 27, 2023 by brick 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted June 27, 2023 24 Hours (24sounds.wad) (1996) by Bill Ostrander (Crispy Doom) This was actually made to go with a set of maps Bill Ostrander made but honestly, this is a prime case of not quitting one's day job. These are AWFUL. The pistol sounds like a pop gun, the rocket launcher makes this annoying yelping sound and the plasma rifle BELCHES. That's right, belches. I guess if it's supposed to be commentary on how annoying that gun sounds, they've succeeded. But I, as a person of presumed sophistication and class can't help but roll my eyes. No dates from this bitch! It just seems like sound effects from ancient computer games with some other sounds got incorporated but its all awful, unfunny, and not even filled with random pop culture and in-joke quirkiness 0/10 Doom 3 sound replacement (2004) by Quast (Crispy Doom) A very simple conversion mod that takes the Doom 3 weapon and monster sounds and translates them to Doom. While some of them don't really fit the game's vibe, there's reasons why the plasma sound still sees frequent use in wads today. Punchy and high-pitched yet not tuned horribly. Overall, not bad at all. Though perhaps this best goes with the creepy stuff. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post
brick Posted June 28, 2023 Brick | 2 wads | 2 maps Adventure | 4 wads | 4 maps Raging Waters (1995) by Greg Hagedorn (The Poolman). 1 SP map for vanilla Heretic. Played in GZDoom. This a small-to-medium Heretic map that was uploaded to idgames decades later for preservation. Nothing groundbreaking, pretty easy (75 enemies on Black Plague), but it's well done, the layout is logical, progression is uncomplicated and fun to unravel. There's definitely a feature that distinguishes this from amateur maps: it has so few right angles, most passages curve much more naturally and it definitely fits the subterranean river look. At under 10 minutes it's quick-playing. I found it fun to go through, and that curved design definitely looks good. Kohe 11 (2007) by Ruba. 1 SP map for vanilla Doom II. Played in GZDoom. I don't really get Ruba's maps. This one is very simple, all right angles (a contrast with the previous wad), and starts quite hot with arachnotrons on both sides and hitscanners behind them. There's a small crate maze with all 3 keys, which unlock access to switches that themselves open the big doors. A very long straight hallway follows with a pair of side passages full of SS. The exit is ahead. That's it. The SS add a goofy and frankly ridiculous note to a map that wasn't all that great to begin with. Forgot to take screenshots, sorry! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted June 28, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 23 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Granite Base by @Captain Toenail (2009) Quote This vanilla-compatible stand-alone release made in 2009 was later included in the fourth slot of Paul Corfiatis's boom-compatible community project named "Doom II Unleashed" released in 2011. Anyway, I never played it so it was a discovery for me. Granite Base is an orphan tech-base mostly built with stone lost in a sort of mountain. It uses the music from Doom's E3M3 "Pandemonium" and the orange from the fourth episode. Moreover, most of the enemies come from UD's bestiary with some occasional Doom 2's monsters. The combats are simple and engaging. They involve lots of low-tiers and some barrels help transforming the battles into a blood mess. The blue armor and all the available renders all survival instincts useless. Just shoot in the crowd and advance. Captain Toenail deliberately kept an old-school look to the map but the sense of detail is here with the crates, some curvy rooms and stairs and a consistent texturing. Overall, Granite Base is a good map for an early map in a megawad. Captain Toenail kept things simple with this map finishable in less than 7-10 minutes. Grade : B (14/20) [2] PERD DeathMatch 04 by Anthony Czerwonka (1997) Quote Quote 1 Level, 8 DM Starts, Small 'Arena' type level. That's all you need for some Non-Stop Action... It's not the second but the third time I stumble on this tiny DM map using custom textures from GothicDM ! The first time I used Crispy Doom, the second Dosbox and Prboom now. The experience didn't change at all. I promise I will start to recruit some bots if I stumble on this wad again. Here's what I said during Month 7 Day 21 : Quote A simple deathmatch map I already visited during Month 2 Day 28. Nothing special to add by I really like the blue-gray-orange combination , it looks relaxing. It also reminds me recent screenshots Velvetic posted. And Month 2 Day 28 : Quote A small deathmatch map made by one of the most famous mappers of the 1990s. It uses gothic themed textures and consists of a small arena with some sort of structure in the middle with a water fountain. Other than that, nothing special in single player anyway. It's very small and you get the hang of it quickly. Anyway, the new textures look good. [3] ZDoom Knowledge Base Compiled Help Format by Richard Clark (2001) Quote Quote This is a set of tutorials for the ZDoom engine. Features full text search of all tutorials. An old tutorial which introduces to Zdoom's functionnalities. The tutorial is maybe incomplete since the various updates but this tutorial is presented as "chm" file and not a simple text so each lesson is organized and it's very easy to find your way around. It acts as a small encyclopedia for Zdoom. I think it could be useful for me which never made a single map for Zdoom. [4] infesto.wad by Kelly J. Lipka (1997) Quote Infesto.wad is a tiny mapset of two experimental maps. The first one is called "Slaughterhouse" and it's a typical ugly map from the 90's with inconsitent shapes and themes, but the author created some weird recolors stock textures which make the adventure trippier. The second one is more special. It's named "Insomnia" and you're sent in an abstract white map. Aside from the fact that it gives a little Backrooms or Myhouse.wad feel, the map turns all black when you take an invulnerability sphere. It's an effect I've never seen on Doom and I think it's really funny to experiment. But above all, the thing I love about both maps is the non-sense slaughter-oriented combats with tons of enemies to shoot and the author gives you so much ammo and invulnerability sphere that's it's impossible to die (except by the surprise crusher under the blue key maybe). Actually, I mostly used the godspheres as short light amplification visors in the first map. The maps don't look convincing according to my screenshots but it's just the kind of stuff I love to review in Er/iwa, and it's pretty creative in some ways. Grade : A- (16/20) [5] Black Magnetic (v1.3) by @Angry Saint (2016) Quote Quote Black Magnetic is one new level for DooM II with new monsters, textures and weapons. It was built for the Doomja-Vu contest started by Tormentor667 on the Realm 667 forum. NMN Corporation is carrying out prohibited experiments with demons genetic material in a laboratory disguised as a storage installation. Space Marines send you to terminate such activities. Good luck. I tested this level with GZDooM version 1.8.2 and 2.1. I don't know if it works with other versions or with ZDooM. You may find the gameplay different from the typical Doom one. Monsters are mainly hitscanner with high health so you will have to get cover very often. Explore the installation for better weapons. A gzdoom-compatible rusty facility I already played during Month 10 Day 13. I've written a pretty long review about it : Quote Now it's time to explore an intecrate and rusty facility. The new textures and items reminds of Quake since medkits and their pick-up were taken from that game for instance. According to Doomwiki's article about that map, layout was heavily inspired by Doom's E1M7. I didn't recognize the original level at all lol , so I I didn't feel the sense of déjà vu. However , I can say that similarly to Computer Station, the layout proves to be heavily interconnected and mazy. Some areas has the only purpose to lead you to an armor or a new weapon. For instance, you can go through a damaging nukage tunnel in order to obtain the "flame thrower". Also, add the fact it's a gzdoom map, so you will visit even more rooms in the upper floor. All those things result to adventurous exploration-oriented map which need at least 20 minutes to complete. I didn't find the progression too confusing though, except concerning the doors which sometimes were difficult to spot. Black Magnetic features a lot of keys , maybe a bit too much for my taste because adding a yellow skull key to the magnetic card of the same color wasn't necessary for me. In any case, this map consists to a key hunt where each key triggers a more elaborated and of course deadly combat. About the difficulty, I will not say it's hard , but as Angry Saint warned, it's way more demanding than the classic Doom 2. The higher difficulty isn't explained by level design choices but rather with the new monsters. You'll fight a wide assortment of zombies and sometimes cyborg imps which are now able to shoot blue plasmaballs. All zombies have the common point to be beefier and more well-equipped than the traditional zombiemen/shotgunners/chaingunners. Some shotgunners need at least 4 shotguns shots to be killed, "machinegunners" beneficiates from a way more increased firerate and some zombies even have a rocket launcher ! Also, take in account you'll fight some marines which strangely look like Storm Troopers from Star Wars. The beginning of the map was tough for me since health proved to be scarce whereas I still had a limited weaponry. However , The author has decided to be more and more generous as you progress. About the weapons, the single-barreled shotgun will probably , as for me, your weapon of choice. The assault rifle feels like a nerfed version of the chaingun but still can stun the ennemies at short range. The "flame throwers" were useful against the final bosses (which disappointed me , but I will not tell much) and the SSG become unpractical when ennemies are too far of course. At the end, I will say it's a solid map. The gameplay was satisfying thanks to the new weapons and ennemies. The aesthetics are well done to feel immersed and the level contains a good amount of exploration. Grade : A- So, I tried to kill all monsters but I missed 2 unimportant ones. You can't go back after killing the last bosses. Despite playing this map a second time, I was in near-death situations several times. This map is pretty hard until you obtain a SSG and either the yellow or red armor. I don't know how I missed mentioning the overpowerfulness of the SSG in this map. It became my exclusive weapon it was ultra effective on all of type of monsters, as long they are not too far of course. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit disappointed that this weapon takes all the tension out of the game and the final bumps can only be killed by circlestrafing around them. In any case it doesn't matter, I spent a good time replaying it. It has a refreshing Quake theme and I like the overlapping 3D floors. It's also so non-linear it becomes a bit confusing at times. Grade : A- (16/20) [6] SargeBaldy Speedmapping Compilation #18 by Various (2007) Quote Quote This is a compilation of the WADs entered in SargeBaldy's eighteenth speedmapping exercise. Participants were given 100 minutes to create a map in which an E4-style hell has frozen over using a provided texture pack. SargeBaldy Speedmapping Compilation's series can be considered as the father of "Abyssal Speedmapping Sesssions" projects led by Obsidian since it consists to make raw speedmaps sticking to a specific theme. The 18th take place in snowy hell and just has 5 maps you can complete each in less than 5 minutes. In order to create this specific theme, this episode contains new textures and notably a grey sky, grey bricks and whitish stones in order to make you understand that you're more or less at Satan Santa's house. It's almost impossible to comment the maps. Most of them are ok but they are too short to properly be reviewed. The authors, except at map 02 didn't even take to add a new music ! The last map is probably the most competent of the bunch because it has a secret to find and more elaborated fights. Overall, it's just a bland speedmapping project. I really like the theme but I recommand to download the whitemare series if you're not looking for really sloppy maps. Grade : C (10/20) I stop here for today. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted June 28, 2023 Bloody Cheese (2005) by Dennis @exl Meuwissen (From Doom With Love) A co-op map that we'll just say has zero ammo for the stronger weapons if this is played on multiplayer, so as such, it's suggested that infinite ammo is turned on. Is that the case in co-op too? I'm not sure, but it just makes the corner slaughter that much more boring. On the plus side, this is a visually nice map for being a series of high-tech interiors with flooded floors but all it shows is professional commitment to detailing. It's certainly fun enough with a decent mod and the existence of a rewind feature to minimize the more grindy moments. Like it is cool that there's Arch-viles everywhere maybe but this really isn't intended to be played without infinite ammo unless you don't care too much about finishing it. And you can't be blamed either because it's like one of those early slaughter maps but somewhat better looking, essentially. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
brick Posted June 29, 2023 Brick | 1 wad | 3 maps Adventure | 5 wads | 7 maps ALPHA 1 Trilogy (1998) by Rob Schweiner. 3 SP maps for vanilla Doom II. Played in GZDoom. This ended up on the Missed Cacowards list and it's easy to see why. The size and complexity of the maps, running on doom2.exe, considering the limitations of the tools when this was developed (between 1994 and 1997), is very impressive. Many of the maps favour large open spaces, so visplane overflows severely limit the detailing, yet there's a definite sense of space, with some cool-looking and memorable setpieces. Progression will make modern players pull their hair out early on: lifts are disguised with the same texture as adjacent walls, secrets both official and unofficial are required. Thankfully most of the worst flaws are on MAP01 and are nowhere to be seen late on, where progression is more logical and less likely to offend modern sensibilities. Combat is surprisingly rich (the 3 maps combined field over 1000 enemies!) but very well balanced, I kept almost-running out of ammo for large parts of the first map, and it took a long time (well into MAP02, and this is on continuous) before I stopped rationing my shells; ammo abundance doesn't really set in until MAP03. Some progression hiccups aside, the exploration aspect is remarkably well done, the sense of being on a long adventure is great and almost feels like a proto Jade Earth. My favourite part is probably the dual reactor in MAP02, the switch hunt is relatively straightforward but there's some fantastic visual storytelling involved in it, as you open up the way into each reactor core. Another great setpiece is the canyon/valley in MAP03, which occupies most of the middle of the map and has you explore to find the yellow and blue keys. There's a surprising amount of nonlinearity, especially in MAP02, which is very open and allows a multitude of approaches, yet despite a couple of times when I had to backtrack for a bit to explore a side passage I had missed, the design is very tight and I didn't get lost, figuring out how to go from where I was to where I wanted to be made sense more often than not. There's a great sense of thematic progression, the first two maps are mostly set in a base, then third one gets progressively more warped until that trick with the long skyway suspended over the clouds. This leads to the hellish portal and a succession of increasingly nasty fights to stop the demon invasion, then finally a monitor with a congratulations, and a teleporter back to the very first room of MAP01, where the set ends. I loved the wad overall, I found the sense of adventure very enjoyable and (a few questionable designs early on) it balances combat and exploration perfectly. It's a shame that Rob Schweiner made no other wads but this is definitely one of the best of its era. Spoiler 5 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted June 29, 2023 ANTHELL.WAD (1994) by Anthony Ball (Crispy Doom) Here's a map I reviewed for Newstuff guide a long time ago when I first decided to pay attention to all recent /idgames uploads. Oddly enough, hardly any '94 maps are uploaded anymore. Probably the number of extant ones that were uploaded to Compuserve and personal websites is just few and far between. Anyways, all the cliches are here: non-traditional door textures, rooms that are all but useless, at least one serious eyesore room, constantly-changing themes, unclear progression and powerup/weapon placement that basically has zero logic applied to it. Although I've completed it before, I really didn't want to spend time looking for the yellow key again. Hint: it's not in that stupid Megaarmor teleport room in the middle of the base. Seeing the map title spelled out after pressing a switch is quite amusing. The same can't be said of plunging into the letters themselves. 3/10 PS: Actually, I forgot the most notable feature. The transparent lift with the dead Cacodemon in the middle for no apparent reason at all. Watching the ways people screwed up can be quite interesting at times. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Video here! 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 1, 2023 (edited) On 6/30/2023 at 1:23 AM, LadyMistDragon said: ANTHELL.WAD (1994) by Anthony Ball (Crispy Doom) I remember of that one... but I didn't review it because I died somewhere I can't recall. From what I remember, this level was quite vicious and furnished for a 1994 map ! Year 2 Month 05 Day 24 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Entrance by Brandon Gray (2010) Quote Quote This wad contains the first (short) level of an 8 level iwad I'm working on. There is a hidden super shotgun and rocket launcher. I already played this small gzdoom-compatible opener for a hypotetical mapset during Month 6 Day 24. Here's was I said : Quote A small introduction for a hypothetic mapset. Maybe the author rapidly lost the motivation. I understand this feeling. Well, the map uses more than dispensable zdoom features like floor textures on walls. The level itself doesn't look bad but I think it still undercooked considering you have 21 monsters but no secret to find and quite rudimentary aesthetics. Even for a map 01, it definitely lacks features. Take a look at Doom2's map 01 or Doom E1M1's , they all contain secrets , alternative paths and varied architecture. After playing it a second time, I tolerate the shortness and therefore its lack of features. It was supposed to be map 01 afterall. However, it's still a weak opener with dark and bare visuals , confusing progression involving several switches and this map introduces the SSG and mid-tier monsters too quickly. I've seen worse, but "Entrance" doesn't make me wish the wad to be released. Grade : C- (8/20) [2] SPACE.WAD by Chris Badger, Modified by Sean Hawthorne (1994) Quote Quote DeathMatch on a mini Space Station! I already visited this prehistoric space-themed deathmatch map in Month 4 Day 01 but it was not exactly the same file. Indeed, it was the version before the modifications brought by Sean Hawthorne. Here's what I said : Quote A quite unusual space-themed DM wad with its inevitable starry sky. This map also has pretty cool texture usages like the glass windows despite being buggy due to the fact they are actually blinking. I also enjoyed the extended use of the blue and brown "COMPOHSO" texture. Besides that , the layout is pretty mediocre due to its squareness and its crampedness at some parts. Also, most of the items are centralized in a huge empty silver room. Honestly, I couldn't spot the differences so I consider it's just the same map. I played on DOS instead of crispydoom and nothing changed of course. I got trapped under a stupid giant crusher in thinkwad.zip Quote Edited July 1, 2023 by Roofi 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 1, 2023 (edited) Infernovasion (2020) by @The_SloVinator (Crispy Doom) A few years ago, the Slovinator released several levels, a couple of them being episodes for Ultimate Doom. The maps are a little long and difficult for me to want to bother playing all of them (and I'm burning up right now, not helped by playing the first map of the DMWC July 2023 pick) but I did sort of check it out. Most of these maps are small and cramped to the point of self-parody and there's zero hesitation from the author about throwing the strongest monsters your way fairly quickly. Moreover, the facility is highly detailed, not to a Doomcute extent necessarily but at the same time, each map maintains a distinct sense of place quite well. The overgrown nature of E1M4 was reminiscent of something like an overgrown Central Processing. The yellow key trap is more akin to something like the fake exit of Halld of the Damned though, besides that it's quite easy to escape. The secret map is actually set in, wait for it, Cyberspace, just like a wad made by mah boi @finnks13 and goes about as over the top as UD can manage (except for several map in PUSS: Th1rt3en, I guess). Overall, a very solid mapset! Spoiler Edited July 2, 2023 by LadyMistDragon 4 Quote Share this post Link to post
ICID Posted July 2, 2023 Moonsong (2016) by InsanityBringer Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: GZDoom A techbase very much like every other techbase, but I have to agree with my colleague Brick that this is still better than most of the generic E1 riffs we see in these parts. There's nothing especially memorable, but it all works and flows together pretty well. Biggest issue is that ammo on UV seemed really unbalanced - light at the start, so much so that I had to run from several fights, and then absolutely gluttonous around the time you find your first key. Maybe I took a wrong turn early on? But considering that the first-time author calls this a "practice map to get the hang of layouts", I'm still going to blame them for said layout leading me the wrong way. Grade: 5/10 Doom Incarnate: E1M1 and E1M2 (2007) by EANB Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: dsda-doom, complevel 9 When I read this was a mashup of E1M1 and E1M2 I assumed it would basically be a variation of the first level's layout that would then flow directly into the second, but instead it's an attempt to combine both maps into each other. This is occasionally brilliant, like the combined outdoor secret and the exit area that really does somehow manage to feel like both maps at once. Sometimes it's just kinda plopping a reference into a room, like the M2 chainsaw secret and the M1 zigzag floor. Mostly it's hard to tell which level is being referenced, if any - and this is not helped by the fact that the map is extremely over-textured. A visual tic here that I haven't seen elsewhere is that rather than forgetting border textures as so many novice mappers do, EANB overuses them - nearly every internal door or change in orientation or hiehgt or anything has big gray bars running from the ceiling to the floor, drawing the eye and distracting you from the original maps' clean, clear-at-a-glance design philosophy. Ultimately this map is more "interesting" than "enjoyable", at least for me. Grade: 5/10 Raging Waters (2018) by Greg "The Poolman" Hagedorn Play Settings Difficulty: Thou art a smite-meister Source Port: GZDoom The last Heretic map I played for ER/iWA featured highly optimized combat that really expected you to know all the inventory items and when to use them. I was glad to see that this is not that - I like Heretic a lot, but my level of experience is "beat the original game and expansions on UV once", so it was nice that this experience was a bit more laid-back. Raging Waters was designed for both deathmatch and singleplayer, so it mostly takes place in big hub arenas which, as the name implies, are mostly wet. After a more tough, ammo-starved run to the blue key it loads you up with all the weapons, and tomes you could ask for and sets you loose on juicy clusters of tough monsters in these arenas. It's kind of a Heretic Dead Simple - but I really like Dead Simple, so sue me. Wish there was more here aesthetically and it's too long for the simple concept, but for the most part I still had a blast. Grade: 6/10 Kohe 11 (2007) by Ruba Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: GZDoom Ruba, a Taiwanese mapper who may or may not have been transgender, uploaded a ton of files from 2005 to 2010 and was apparently seen at the time as someone who just shat out terrible levels a la Glassyman. This included 17 maps in the "Kohe" series, all of which were made and released within a 6-month period, as well as "Killing Adventure", which both won the Mockaward and tied the Worst Wad award in 2009. Since this is the only Ruba map I've played I can't speak to their entire body of work (seeing the names of releases like "Iraki Terrorist" or "Please get hot Jiggi" doesn't exactly fill me with confidence), but at the very least this is 10x better than even the best Glassyman release. The biggest sin here is that it's short - there's an opening room where you blast through a few spiders, then a spicy hitscanner section in a room full of crates, then a spooky black hallway with neat lighting effects where you rocket a big group of Wolfenstein SS, and then you're done. Other than the Wolfenstein SS, none of this is executed badly, it just kinda comes to a stop and doesn't leave much of an impression. It's not a great map but I've played much, much worse for the ER/iWA, even in the past few weeks. Maybe I'm just rooting for Ruba because so much of the hate on the /idgames page is clearly motivated by homo/transphobia, or maybe because I really hate reading those old "Worst Wad" blurbs. They're so mean-spirited and misguided. The blurb about Ruba, notably, takes a left-field potshot at Jackson Pollock as someone the author feels also made terrible artwork. Goes to show the intellectual rigor these things were being written with in 2009. Grade: 4/10 6 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 2, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 25 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Teleport Mania II - [Doom II only] by Phillip Watts (1995) Quote Quote A deathmatch only wad with mostly dark rooms and halls. Fairly small with very little ammo and few weapons (highest Rocket Launcher). Once again many teleporters to add some spice. The teleporters have a pattern thats not too complicated. Multiple tp's per tp exit though so don't stand around. This deathmatch level is extremly insipid and shows bad taste humor from its author because the corridors linking to the different teleporters rooms form the shape of a swastika. All the layout is square and dark. I easily guess that this level has no value in multiplayer mode. The next wad is Oblivion, an ultimate Doom Episode but I don't have the time to play it , so I stop here for today. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 2, 2023 GOTHMOG.WAD (1994) by Nathan Kidney (Crispy Doom) Quote PWAD file for E1M1. This is an ARENA type DEATHMATCH level that was created using the same idea as the ledges series, with a central arena surrounded by smaller rooms. It is designed primarily for deathmatch, BUT can be played alone or co-op, but let me warn you that if you play with monsters, expect to get your butt kicked, especially in Ultra-Violence! There is only one gun of each type laying around not counting the shotgun you get from the enemies. HINT: There is a trick in one of the rooms that can become a 30 second trap for another player if you figure it out first! With all the narrow corridors, it's hard to say this would be fun in modern deathmatch terms. It is well-made though, although perhaps the weapon placement isn't intended for single player. It makes running around and shooting enough pinkies to qualify the author as falling into "fetish category"....I don't know what I was going to say, beyond it's not exactly difficult when one can head into a certain blue-light walled room containing a corpse on the far wall with a BFG and rocket launcher in separate chambers. The occasional deviation into hell is odd, but kind of unexpected. There's never a dull moment, but combat's unextraordinary on the whole. Needless to say, there was no hanging around when the exit was located in a narrow hallway off the storage room with the berserk pack. 5/10 I guess, kind of loses its bite when the weapons are found. Spoiler Spoiler 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
ICID Posted July 2, 2023 ALPHA 1 Trilogy (1998) by Rob Schweiner Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: Crispy Doom, pistol starts I didn't recognize the name "Alpha 1 Trilogy" when I started these maps but I was not surprised to learn after the fact that this won a Missed Cacoward in 2018. Few maps of this era can boast the aesthetics, scale, or combat on offer here - carefully balanced and playtested with a keen eye for lighting most mappers today still can't match. From the very beginning you have to turn on a teleporter that takes you to the ruined entrance of a brutalist fortress where you'll have to crawl through vents and explore every inch to find the keys you need to enter the Alpha Complex proper. But don't take too long to admire the architecture, because the combat here is fucking brutal on UV. Like a lot of the early levels in the Doom II IWAD these maps are jam-packed with hitscanners, but unlike the IWAD each map here also has over 300 monsters. Early on, every single shell and every single scrap of health feels like cause for celebration. There's a trap in the opening rooms built around a simple pack of four shells - four shells, ladies and gentlemen, is enough for the author to know you'll run in and get sunk into sewage. Eventually you get a chaingun that finally puts those bullets to use and you start tearing into monsters only to realize you haven't actually been given any ammo for it. There's a crate room where a cacodemon you can't possibly have enough ammo to kill will chase you around like it's some kind of survival horror game. The combat here is so tightly balanced - but it is balanced. Despite the author saying the maps are designed for continuous play, I actually chose to pistol-start maps 2 and 3 because by the time I got to the end of 1 I had so little health and ammo that pistol starting actually seemed like the easier choice. After that tight squeeze MAP02 felt like a letdown - it's a Knee Deep-y techbase that keeps neither the aesthetic niftiness nor the tight combat puzzlery of MAP01. The one standout here is the gorgeous reactor room where you have to run around in a circle dodging the WAD's first revenant. MAP03 has a similarly mediocre start, just a long hallway where you hold down the plasma gun to kill everything, but then you go through a tunnel into what appears to be a lush subterranean oasis of rock and slime. It's brighter than any area you've seen in ages and feels like a respite - until you notice the flames, upside-down crosses, and high-tier monsters letting you know that you have, once again, descended into hell. While the third map is definitely terrific I have to confess that by this point I had stopped "feeling" ALPHA 1 Trilogy. Probably my own fault for always playing on UV, but on that difficulty each map here is so long and so intense, without the crazy visuals or awesome setpieces that keep most modern high-difficulty WADs from feeling stale. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I played each map over a few days, but when played all at once it starts to feel like an endless slog of shotgunning imps, shotgunners, and chaingunners. That said, ALPHA 1 is still extremely worth your time if you have any interest in the history of Doom modding, and if you pace yourself you'll definitely have a ton of fun with these maps. Grade: 7/10 I Am Evil 1 (2001) by Dr. Beefstupid Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: GZDoom Dr. Beefstupid uploaded 8 maps on November 23, 2001 numbered "I Am Evil 1" through "I Am Evil 8" and then was never heard from again. All 8 of these seem to be trollmaps designed to annoy the player. This one is a huge, slow elevator that takes you up to a cyberdemon you cannot possibly kill. You can at least run past him to an exit switch, as well as the "Poo" sign which apparently appears on all 8 of Beefstupid's maps. Obviously not good, but sort of interesting as a weird /idgames novelty. Grade: 2/10 Fury 667 (1995) by Paul R. Bailey Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: Crispy Doom A nice reminder of what most 90s maps are actually like after the thrill of ALPHA 1. A collection of grey, ugly mazes with a lot of random sound replacements (including the Simpsons Doom pain sound, for some reason??) and one new texture, pictured above. The text file here is a lot more interesting than the actual gameplay - this was apparently made by a 26 year old veteran now working as a mechanic who apparently removed most of the sound effects he likes to play with, including something that makes imps sound like they're shitting and farting. He made these maps to practice aligning textures and admits they're not very good. But of course, he still uploaded them to /idgames, because heaven forbid we ever not upload everything to /idgames. Grade: 2/10 6 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 3, 2023 17 hours ago, ICID said: Fury 667 (1995) by Paul R. Bailey Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra-Violence Source Port: Crispy Doom A nice reminder of what most 90s maps are actually like after the thrill of ALPHA 1. A collection of grey, ugly mazes with a lot of random sound replacements (including the Simpsons Doom pain sound, for some reason??) and one new texture, pictured above. The text file here is a lot more interesting than the actual gameplay - this was apparently made by a 26 year old veteran now working as a mechanic who apparently removed most of the sound effects he likes to play with, including something that makes imps sound like they're shitting and farting. He made these maps to practice aligning textures and admits they're not very good. But of course, he still uploaded them to /idgames, because heaven forbid we ever not upload everything to /idgames. Grade: 2/10 Oh, I remember about this map just for the out of place soda machine. I don't think I would give a 2/10 but it was definitely generic to be worth playing. Year 2 Month 05 Day 26 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] The Hells Pit by Per Johan H (1997) Quote Quote E1M1:The Hells Pit Only dethmatch Dont get to close to the pit! The breath of hell may take you down. Yes i am "cirius" (Joke) I wonder what is the worst ordeal between playing old shovelware heretic maps or pointless deathmatch maps. The debate is settled, The Hells Pit is an old deathmatch for Heretic ! Yay... It's just a giant square courtyard with an easy to dodge deep crevasse splitting the area in two parts. This map has no architecture, nor interesting places from a gameplay perspective. This is is just lame. I stop here for today. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 3, 2023 On 7/1/2023 at 5:04 PM, ICID said: Kohe 11 (2007) by Ruba I actually thought they were from Thailand because of something else I'd read once and I even made a crack about it because I don't know of any Thai mappers that were active for a period of time like Ruba was. Sometimes, one just wishes there were better and more motivated representatives, not to be too mean to Ruba though I kind of was when I got their map once. It might explain one thing at least, since I know Thailand is known for having good transgender tolerance. Castle Struggle (2017) by @Lorenz0 (GZDoom) Lorenz0's map tend to have some odd combat flow to say the least, judging on the essential lack of buildup of any kind to ambushes, but this is probably my favorite of his so far. Maybe that doesn't mean too much at first admittedly. Gothic textures are played out and the undetailed opening courtyard don't really help with the first impression. But past some humdrum incidental combat, this has exactly THREE precisely-triggered large teleport ambushes. Each ambush has a few others wrapped inside it as well, creating the sort of staggered teleporting I haven't actually seen in too many wads thus far. Naturally, the best comes in the storage house with the Mancubus and Aracnotrons at the far end. There's a plasma rifle and BFG in this hallway and one may not want to grab one the same time as the other. I didn't bother figuring it out and just brute-forced the whole thing through fortunate RNG, but this ambush alone is absolutely brilliant and easily stands head and shoulders above the rest. That's to say nothing of the series of ambushes near the two pits with pinkies that one must tediously punch that isn't the deadliest but still is extremely clever. They do successfully lift up some under-detailed areas. Although the throne room toward the end is actually quite lovely regardless. The biggest problem probably came from the clean-up though, with the rather tight stores of ammo for the big guns not really helping matters. That being said, this was good! 7.5/10 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Lorenz0 Posted July 3, 2023 3 hours ago, LadyMistDragon said: Castle Struggle (2017) by @Lorenz0 (GZDoom) This is one of the first maps I made so I can assure you that everything I got right was accidental lmao I suppose the map had some decent moments but I feel like nearly everything I made since then is leagues better. Still, I'm glad you enjoyed it. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
ICID Posted July 5, 2023 Racist Skin (2005) by Mike "Cutmanmike" Hill Play Settings Difficulty: N/A Source Port: GZDoom In one of his earliest contributions to the ZDoom mapping scene, Cutmanmike proudly presents this really ugly and half-assed KKK skin, which is really just Maedhros' camoskin with a triangle on top. Believe it or not, this guy went on to make Corruption Cards. Grade: 0/10 Nazi Deth Kamp '96 (1996) by Rambutt Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra Violence Source Port: Crispy Doom You'll never guess what symbol this map is in the shape of! Just kidding, of course you will. This is an early slaughter WAD - not in the modern definition of "slaughter" that means "high-monster count WAD with cool combat puzzles", but in the classical sense where every single room is packed full of exactly one type of monster. High ammo counts ensure nothing here presents a challenge, although there's a good chance your patience will run out before the hell knights and barons do. Presentation-wise there's actually some cool visuals here for '94, despite the Wolfenstein textures just kinda strewn about at random. But more importantly, there's also a bunch of sound replacements. Some smooth-voiced guy who, sorry, sounds like he's approaching an orgasm says "Got it" every time you grab a pickup, "Mmmmmm" every time you pick up a weapon (a real problem in the chaingunner rooms), and "Ooooh, that hurts" whenever he takes damage. There's also weird new weapon sounds that I haven't heard before. It really makes you appreciate the original Doom sound design, which doesn't get annoying no matter how many times you hear it (although I guess your mileage may vary if you're one of those plasma gun haters.) Grade: 2/10 Battle Zone (199?) by Daniel Thomas Chard Play Settings Difficulty: Ultra Violence Source Port: Crispy Doom A map from somewhere in the late 90s, rescued and uploaded to /idgames in 2012. Not bad, honestly! It's very cramped, especially at the beginning, but it looks quite nice and combat is spicier than you'd expect for the time period. I probably won't remember anything about it in a month but it's easily one of the best maps I've played for this adventure (which may say more about the crappy files I've been pulling than it does about Battle Zone itself.) Grade: 6/10 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
Endless Posted July 5, 2023 (edited) 14 hours ago, ICID said: A map from somewhere in the late 90s, rescued and uploaded to /idgames in 2012 If you check the .WAD file details, its last ''modified'' date is May 1, 1997. Edited July 5, 2023 by Endless 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 5, 2023 (edited) Now, I mostly skip stuff that aren't either mods, maps, and multiplayer maps that don't seem ultra-generic, but I liked this little collection of files that was rolled here. UAC Ultra Textures (2010) by Jon "40oz" Vail and Jamie "SuperJamie" Bainbridge The texture set created for the Cacoward-winning UAC Ultra wad. You have to admit, it's particular yellow-tinged take on industrial environments is very charming. Although OTEX industrial probably sees more use these days with good reason, I can admit to being a fan of UAC Ultra's particular vibe as well as general progression. At the same time, one has to wonder if a mediocre mapper would necessarily be able to make anything primarily centering around these textures. Mostly, that might be down to the megawad having some varying level of enjoyment per play session not so much related to dynamic combat as much as....well, I've rambled on on non-textural issues long enough r :p) Review of OPOST21.WAD (1994) by Frank Stejano Hey, I played you before! Like the /idgames review says, the average player is probably better off having the guide in front of them since its based quite heavily in lots of visual cues. Also seems to trivialize the problems. It's funny to me to see this and a Heretic secrets guide as uploaded files in pre /idgames days. Starlight Sanctuary: Enhanced Edition (2018) by Insanity Bringer (GZDoom) A fairly short map but one with a sort of pre-Lullaby space-like aesthetic that's lacking in the Super Mario-like vibrancy of the latter and has less location variety, but the midi is totally fitting, despite the somewhat clumsy monster placement. Ambushes are pretty good though and monster placement is challenging. But basically due to me thinking it was a certain map decino played in 2021, I played with Final Doomer, first with the flame weapon destructiveness of Whitemare than the more color-appropriate Back to Saturn X class. RNG is changed naturally, but not for the better so much when the SS equivalent is being fired. The bit with the oval room with Pain Elementals, Revenants, demons, and imps on each side was probably the most frustrating. Mostly though, it's kind of like running back and forth in a bowling alley or at least that was the lazy way I played it. But it was fun 8/10 Edited July 5, 2023 by LadyMistDragon 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 5, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 27 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] dlbigdm or dlfrag or dlfresh by David Mastin and Luke Kilpatrick (1997) Quote Quote Very fun to play deathmatch wads. Monsters are entirely optional except for the modified ledges level in bigdm where chambers containing monsters are remotely opened to drive other players into the central pit. Another day which starts with a generic old Deathmatch map. Moreover, I already visited that one , under a different file I don't remember. However, this version contains monsters and make the map a lot of more engaging from a single player perspective. The several chaingunners forced me to grab one of the countless blurspheres because the medkits are not that abundant. And I got powned in the most idiotic map from Memento Mori (updated version!) (Kinetics) Spoiler 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 6, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 28 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Base.wad (for Doom 2) by Chris Wright (1996) Quote And this day starts with another Deathmatch map. Actually, despite being presented as "Deathmatch-only", Base.wad features monsters, secrets and an oversized layout for a proper duel I guess. You start in front of a myriad of switches and most of them just serve to open and close the windows of the room. The others open doors which aren't essential at all to complete the level. In order, to beat the level you have to find a secret switch hidden behind a fake wall and runs to the exit door because it's timed. The level itself reminds me of Doom 2's map 15 with those open courtyards and tall buildings but the progression is a lot more illogical and unintuitive. From a singleplayer perspective, this map isn't entertaining mostly because of the confusing progression, but I will not give a grade because its author didn't say it was designed for solo afterall... [2] DJ-DOOM for DOOM ][ by Adrian Clark (1995) Quote Well I got a bit sick of some of the sounds that have been going around so i decided to create a pretty cool wad from some CD's I had!!! ENJOY!!! It's been a while since I've come across a totally useless sound mod ! That one turns Doom game into Spotify ! I'm joking but that's a pretty funny one because pop or funk music plays every time you lower a lift, activate a switch or open a door. What's more, zombies can sing "Good Bye" when you kill them. Just what you need to liven things up a bit. I was severly lacking ammo in Doom II: Purgatory and I got eventually killed by a perched mancubus. Quote 0 Quote Share this post Link to post
Clippy Posted July 6, 2023 Is this the right 1? it been a while firstly looked at Legacy of Belial by Zalewa https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/lobelial I didn't make it too far - greeted with excessive mandatory text messages to read, why do ppl do that and 1100 something monsters and this archie lights me up in big open arena ya nope so landed on: The UnderDark by Slaytan https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/lobelial weird 2007 map - just rip and tear with an over abuandance of resorurces - not much to say I dont think - why so many light goggles - some wacky design but yeah next time I may do more who knows 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 7, 2023 (edited) Alxdeth VI Floyd's Resurrection (1996) by Alex Nichols (Zandronum and Eternity) Hey, here's a map that actually tells us the name of copyrighted midi in the text file! It took an embarrassingly long time to notice it since its from an album I used to listen to quite a lot. But anyways, it's basically just a series of gray buildings in a square surrounded by bloodfalls. It's not quite an....open square but probably best for no more than 1 on 1, maybe 3 on 1. Also, these custom sfx are horribly corny. 4/10 Spoiler Spoiler Spain (1997) by Jose Mancia (Zandronum and Eternity) Quote great deathmatch level Yep, who cares, just another square room surrounded by a darkened hallway and vaguely cell-like side rooms. The best part is probably the big painting containing one person like that soccer player DJV was using as his avvie for a while. It plays ok, but is entirely lacking in personality 2/10 Spoiler Edited July 7, 2023 by LadyMistDragon 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
Walter confetti Posted July 7, 2023 14 hours ago, Roofi said: DJ-DOOM for DOOM ][ by Adrian Clark (1995) Ah, i remember fondly this sound wad and the di-la-la-la clip from Saturday Night when you open fast doors, very fun times listening in Doom the stuff i heard from radio shows at the time of my pre-teen years... How nostalgico! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 7, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 29 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Shadows of Darkness by Nick Gawel AKA "Meat Grinder" (1997) Quote "Shadows of Darkness", as the title foreshadows, send your marine in a dark tech-base in which each key triggers a trap involving mostly hitscanners. The adventure is short and its author was lenient in terms of resources since lot of ammo can be obtained from the zombies you killed and a green armor lies in front of you at the beginning of the map. I almost died in the first trap with the two chaingunners coming out from their respective closet but after that, all traps are easily predictable and so the best thing to do is to flee each time you collect a key. Over, "Shadows of Darkness" is a pleasant classic base map to play and it features pretty looking texturing and light effects. The tall stairs at the end of the map were a bit aggravating but fortunately don't represent the major part of the level. Grade : B (13/20) Accidentally fell in a death pit in the second level of plutonia wad Quote 2 Quote Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 8, 2023 (edited) After going through 4 entirely skippable files (well, ASS 61 but that has 16 maps so that noise can wait for another day...forever. (geez, jk. i just don't know) MASTURBATION MAGAZINE 1 (2007) by Jodwin (From Doom with Love) So I guess this is like a....partial jokewad of sorts if the NSFW title screen and text file are any indication. The problem is that the monster masses are a little too staid to be taken anything but seriously, but these maps are all fairly monotextured and aren't exactly worth coming in(omg, did I make that pun accidentally??). These are basically all fairly easy slaughter maps, apart from maybe 3. 1 is a sort of industrial base with a pool of lava around 1 building, 2 is a basically a darkened red cave in a void that actually probably was created to annoy the player, 3 is a crappy brown maze kind of like many 2000s slaughter maps, while 4 is a structureless, rocket-heavy and honestly quite fun sort of map. Probably a 5/10 on the whole. Mainly because weapons in 1 are held back to create stupid hell revealed grindiness and 3 is the kind of close-quarters slaughter I despise in principle but not the worst proponent of its subgenre all the same. Spoiler Spoiler Edited July 8, 2023 by LadyMistDragon 1 Quote Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted July 8, 2023 Year 2 Month 05 Day 30 I play until I die or intentionally stop. I don't comment the wad where I died/stopped. [1] Deathmatch WAD for DOOM2 by Russell McInnes (Alias Muscle) (1995) Quote Quote An excellent level for 4 player deathmatch. The first I have bothered to release. This deathmatch map belongs to the category of levels in which the layout is much more akin to a map designed for single player than for multiplayer. Even for 4 players, this map seems too large and complexe because it has a lot of places to explore and teleporters linking them. Moreover, it has keyed doors which don't require keys to be opened , and a handful monsters which are not numerous enough for a singleplayer adventure. It's not as if this is a Dobu Gabu Maru map, where the small presence or even absence of monsters is fully justified. I see this wad only as a missed opportunity. While it could have been a tolerable single-player map, its author preferred to convert it into a DM map that no-one would play. [2] Area 02 Temple Study & Excavations V0.8 by @BossClaw (2016) Quote Quote Area 02 consists of a Research & Shipping base built beside a Small Demon Temple to extract the Relics & Study the strange power source. A rather large complex with areas criss crossing, multiple paths and a tendancy to attract Cacos. A decayed industrial zone with a sandboxy progression which has Doom 2's map 15 vibes for me. It has more or less 150 monsters but Area 02 contains lot of optional areas because, indeed, I finished this map after killing just 60% of the enemies and I wasn't even rushing. ut really, the author really lets the player explore the level as he sees fit without restricting him. There are a few keys to pick up, but that's it. The beginning of the map was really tight on ammo to the point I had to punch several caco in order to kill them but once you've managed to get further in the industrial site, lot of shell boxes and power up can be found and transform the adventure into a walk in the park. Despite the rough texturing , Area 02 still presents interesting sceneries thanks to the pronunced height variations and the non-linearity as I mentioned above. Instead of playing a simple level, I felt like I was exploring a real industrial site where I had to figure out where to go. The level isn't very big though. I never seen "Boss Claw" in the mapping scenery, so I guess it's one of his beginner maps. And the only thing I have to say is : Well Done ! Area 02 was pretty good and reveals the mapper's potential. However, this wad was released in 2016 and I doubt that Boss Claw continued mapping... Grade : B (13/20) [3] Unconventional Gift by @mrthejoshmon (2020) Quote Quote Unconventional Gift was a birthday gift for a friend, a great friend, a best friend... Unfortunately I am no longer a friend of them due to my own hubris. But I'll just suck that up, what is left is a another unconventional map made by myself for TNT, it occupies MAP04 and is rather easy, the map layout is simple to accommodate for the automap message, quite short too. "Unconventional Gift" is an inconventional download for my part. Indeed, I realized its the first time I download a wad exclusively designed for the TNT IWAD on the occasion of ER/iwa ! The mappers who create maps for TNT can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and Mrthejoshmon is one of them. The level itself is a speedmap which replaces map 04 and use nothing else than the custom resources. It doesn't even have a new soundtrack but TNT's music is a banger afterall ! Your goal here consists to sneak through alleys and kill everything blocking your path. For a TNT hommage, "Unconventional Gift" proves a lot more linear and conventional compared to all the crazy controversial ideas you can find in the IWAD. The layout also forms the name of the friend, which appears to be "Lucy". In any case, it's a very enjoyable speedmap to play, with a blend of ease and simplicity. Making a reality run doesn't seem too complicated. Happy Birthday Lucy ! (I'm a bit late) Grade : B (13/20) And got cowardly crushed in a tight dark corridor from Bloodworks Quote 3 Quote Share this post Link to post
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