Endless Random /idgames WAD Adventures #062

[LadyMistDragon]

Modus Mortis (2012) by Vladimir trq (Crispy Doom)

 

5 maps with the sort of progression straight out the 90s with the occasional invisible door and gameplay which reflects such. There's literally zero concessions to pistol-starting by the way. DON'T DO IT.

 

Map 01: very short, hardly any monsters.

 

Map 02: a large area of blood. Actually somewhat impressive in its monotextured variety. Can't really kill the Cyberdemons in the open area at the end, they're just here to intimidate

 

 

Map 03: Don't miss either the chaingun or the Super shotgun. Very woody and sewer-like, although it's entirely dry or almost so.

 

Map 04: Base...y? There are some power stations, a few large structures, than a hill sloping downwards at the end inside a seriously cooked teleportation fight.

 

Map 05: Easily the hardest and longest. Kind of similar to the last one but the already nasty monster placement becomes absolutely ruthless. The weapon placement at the start tells us what we're in for.  Wood and brown concrete prevail everywhere, and there are more large groups here than at any point. When we emerge outside and activate the bridge to the red key platform, everything changes. Cyberdemons will punish you ruthlessly if you haven't eliminated the Cacos earlier and chaingunners oversee the end where you come in initially. Not too long before, we fight large groups shotgunners and Revenants with rockets. 

 

Toward the end it turns into a small-scale version of something from a Michael Reed map, then we return to a central hallway with ammo in it, with a switch revealing a nearby Mastermind and opeing the way to the exit. But at this point, I was done.

 

Pretty solid vanilla set on the whole. Don't miss the plasma rifle like I did though 6/10

 

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[Roofi]

Year 2 Month 05 Day 31

 

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

 

[1] Anger Deathmatch by Mohammed Firas (Hitboi) @Hitboi (2021)

 

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Anger DM is a 7-level Boom-compatible wad designed primarily for Deathmatch play, using the Gothic DM texture pack.

 

"Anger Deathmatch" is one of the descendants of the famous "GOTHICDM" series released in the 1990. Hitboi offers rather wide combats zones with epurated visuals. Also the RL and the chaigun behave slightly differently : the rocket launcher has an increased fire rate and the chaingun fires faster too but has a more realistic animation which prevents you of shooting for more or less 1 second after the last bullet because you have to wait until the cannons have finished moving.

 

[2] Styx Deathmatch 01 by Richard "Styx" Jaspars @Styx (2006)

 

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4 small deathmatch levels for fast 1-on-1 fragfests

 

Those vanilla-compatible deathmatch maps pleased my eyes very much. The author did a very clean use of stock textures and compositional textures add subtle freshness. You can notably find green rock textures merged with metal. Styx illustrates a certain perfectionism on the part of its author, too bad it's only for deathmatch.

 

[3] Belldandy Doom (Test Edition) by Yukio Ide (Waizu) in Japan (1997)

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I know mapping standards were still low in 1997 but this japanese doomer put all efforts to create the most inconsistent and abstract level possible. The layout consists of square rooms and corridors and each of them contains a different texturing. I can't say theme because it's too empty. No thought has been given to the placement of monsters and items. However, the numerous medkits and ammunition make the level extremely easy and therefore tolerable for my sanity. Moreover, the "doors" are clearly marked and the automap helps finding the way. For those reasons, Belldandy Doom is far from being the worst level I've ever played.

 

And I can't review this wad without talking about the sound replacements attached to it. And.... this is something. I find it amusing, stupid and equally disturbing.  I don't have any anime culture and I went to do some research on "Belldandy"after playing the wad. It's a character from the manga " Ah! My Goddess" but the sound wad reminded me more of an obscure hentai because of the questionable female voices. The funny aspect about those things is mostly the lullaby which plays each time you collect an item and the fact the sounds don't play well because of their length and therefore result to an audio mess in game.

 

So, "Belldandy Doom" is a gross contribution , even for the old standards but it's still unoffensive from a gameplay perspective. I want to add a bonus point for the stupid sound mod, which help making the adventure less insipid.

 

Grade : D+  (7/20)

 

[4] Tutorial: Lifts by @JagDogger2525 (2017)

 

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I made this as a tutorial for those whom want to learn about the floor lifts with texture and special changes.

I am making a megawad and it requires this.

Same as the previous 3 - Doom in Hexen Format

 

A test map I already commented during Month 2 Day 26 :

 

"A simple test map that allows you to see some of the lifts that can be done in the GZdoom format. In reality, it is a simple lift and a bridge that comes out of the liquid. With a few nuances, these actions are totally feasible in vanilla so I don't really see the point of this tutorial, knowing that the map itself does not explain how to do it.

 

Opening any gzdoom map using this effect will be just as useful.

 

Also there are an exit , 3 monsters and a SSG so you can do an uv-max lol."

 

Nothing else to say, raising a floor in order to create a bridge can perfectly be done in vanilla format.

 

 

I stop here for today.

[LadyMistDragon]

Narcosis (2002) by @Espi (Zandronum and Eternity)

 

Here we go, a DM map I'd have normally skipped if some one with a huge legacy in the community wasn't responsible. Anyways, this isn't a traditional Doom theme at all thematically speaking. A couple of half-hexagons with little buildings on the sides and a pair of towers on each side of a shrine comprise this map! The ambient music and the more realistic pistol sound give this an entirely different vibe! A port that supports fog may actually be best here. 6/10, seems quite playable by modern deathmatch standards because the only obstructions are in the middle!

 

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Quick and Deadly (2003) by DooMBoy (Crispy Doom)

 

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A short and (on UV) fairly difficult level set in an underground UAC chemical facility

 

 

DooMBoy did one of the first maps I got through these adventures and this one isn't quite as good....but it's supposedly inspired by Hell Revealed II map 05. In the encounter staging I hope, since it's typical vaguely tech-y tan brick. There are some cool fountains though, as well as a demonstration of lighting skills and some cool symbols on the ceiling of the blue key room for some reason. DoomBoy also had the good sense to put little supports throughout the long hallways so you can pick off the intial Arch-vile at a distance. The main sour spot might be the blue key room where we have to play peekaboo with some hitscanners. Ammo is also incredibly tight and when RNG decides to diss you, it leads to little situations like not having enough rockets for two Arch-viles which appear when you return to the initial opening fountain, meaning the exit Hell Knight had to die to the RNG chaingun! 6.5/10

 

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Video here!

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[ICID]

New thread! Had to get it out a bit early this week because I'll be traveling all day for the next few days. Have fun reviewing crap without me :)

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by ICID