Mappers you wish to see make a comeback

[cannonball]

I am surprised no one has mentioned this one, he is probably a he mapper who is most remembered for better or worse from TNT - Drake O’Brien, he is probably most people’s first experience of a proper long adventurous doom map. What could he create now with modern tools.

[A.K.]

I'd like to see BlueEagle (Paul Schneider) return. He was known for creating the Silent-Hill themed mod for GZdoom entitled, Unloved.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Unloved

I do know that he was creating his own game based on the concept but apparently the game didnt live up to the standards set by the GZDoom mod he had made.

EDIT: I did want to note that Unloved was the first DooM mod that gave me some type of uncomfortable fear on some of the levels.
 

Edited September 28, 2023 by A.K.
Adding information as to why Unloved is a cool GZDOOM mod from 2010.

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

1 hour ago, Gothic said:

Also Sandy Petersen.

It would be genuinely hilarious if Sandy came back with a doom episode of his own to rival Romero.

[whybmonotacrab]

Huy Pham

Deus Vult 1 doesn't do much for me, but I fucking love Deus Vult 2.  I need more.

 

Khorus

Base Ganymede, Khorus' Speedy Shit, Absolute Order, Nuclear Chunks - the guy doesn't miss!

 

Gaspe

Legacy of Heroes is awesome. Would have loved to see what came next.

 

Eradrop

I saw the Avactor 2 WIP in what are you working on and now I'm eagerly awaiting a release.

 

Brian Knox

Goddamn is Unholy Realms awesome. I'd kill for another one.

[OpenRift]

• Some of the OGs from Team TNT and the Alien Vendetta team that aren't as active anymore.
• Doom 64's level designers, I'd love to see them make a return and make some stuff for the remaster
• Tom Mustaine
• Sandy Peterson

[Catpho]

Way too many. I'll just go with one for now: Marcaek. His credentials are sparse but glowing: made some of the best maps from D2TWiD and UDTWiD, thing-placed for Syringe MAP06 (I didn't realize I was replying to a Xaser post until I typed this, heh), has a handful of terrific community project maps that tend to be at the very least among the more ambitious levels in a given project. I'm glad TNT2 exists (and that there is still a map26 to look forward to, lol), but it's kinda hard not to wish that he has his own Arrival, or really any substantial solo release.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Catpho

[Zulk RS]

Deathmatcher: The more wads I play the more I seem to appreciate DTS-T despite all its flaws (and believe me. It is incredibly flawed). DTS-T has this charm to it that makes me like it. The last maps are very well done. It's clear that Deathmatcher got really good with Doom mapping the longer the project dragged on and now I'd love to see a new wad from him with all those skills that he gained.

 

TOGoS and Fizz: These two made Junko. That mapset is... something else. I'd love to basically get a "Junko 2"

 

Empyre: Empyrion still remains my favorite Doom wad. While I don't make videos on it anymore I still play select maps from it every now and then. I'd love to see a new project from him or some new maps for Empyrion.

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Zulk RS

[DNSKILL5]

Sandy Peterson should make a comeback a bit like how John Romero has. It would be awesome to see them do a collab megaWAD. 

[Roofi]

2 hours ago, Gregor said:

Veddge - Despite the enormous success of MyHouse.wad, it's quite likely that he'll never release anything ever again. So if he does come back, it would be one Hell of a surprise.

 

My theory is that Veddge doesn't exist as a person and a whole team is behind myhouse.pk3.

 

Honestly, except if you're very unlucky or live in the deepest jungle, you can't disappear like that. I don't believe any of those storirs about mysterious disparitions, specifically nowadays in this hyperconnected world.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Roofi

[Not Jabba]

I usually think about this in terms of projects rather than mappers, and as such, it tends to be slightly more recent projects that may not be dead, but I'd love to see them rally -- for instance, whatever this is that Aurelius posted screenshots of once and then never mentioned again, or that thing Danlex did with the road and the cars (iykyk, but the images were dead last I checked). Or Adventures of Square E3.

 

Some answers to the actual question, though:

 

Didy -- even though they already had one comeback. 

an_mutt -- never made a bad map, I miss him.

Lainos -- can't get enough of those post-apocalyptic magnum opus maps.

Nanka Kurashiki, Toooooasty, Manbou -- or the whole Japanese Doom community (I've actually heard they're getting back together to work on something, hope it's not just rumor)

[Shepardus]

Lainos (I don't follow Russian Doom sites, though, so if he's still there I wouldn't know)

 

Didy - Wait I'm just repeating Not Jabba's post at this point

[prfunky]

2 hours ago, Michael Jensen said:

Sverre Kvernmo! He made absolutely amazing maps back in the 90's, and in 2013 he returned for a while with, once again, some of the best maps ever.

 

Gah! How could I have forgotten?

Time Gate from Eternal Doom!!!

 

[Pierrot]

Ruba - he's got this unique style of making seemingly goofy yet extremely fun to play maps. I would love to experience another Killing Adventure or alike.

[El Juancho]

the mapper I want back sadly passed away many years ago 😔

[Lila Feuer]

Lots of great ones in here, I pick Simo Malinen as he wasn't mentioned, he made a buncha cool one-offs using only stock textures and they were big ass maps with lots of monsters and exploration. Looks like he hasn't been in the scene since 2010.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Simo_Malinen

[EANB]

Dutch Devil’s maps were a big inspiration to me when I started mapping so it would be nice to see more modern stuff from him.

[Stupid Bunny]

2 hours ago, cannonball said:

I am surprised no one has mentioned this one, he is probably a he mapper who is most remembered for better or worse from TNT - Drake O’Brien, he is probably most people’s first experience of a proper long adventurous doom map. What could he create now with modern tools.

I’m 1000‰ in this camp and it’s definitely for the better. I get why people hate Central Processing, Administration Center and Mt. Pain, but i find them beautiful and inspirational to this day. Would love to see what Drake would make now, always enjoyed his willingness to play with scale, space, progression and idiosyncratic styling.

 

Also B.P.R.D. I will never shut up about how much I love Equinox. It made me cry too, no joke. Probably my favorite wad ever, for however questionable his balancing was his grasp of atmosphere will never be equaled.

 

Ill join @Pierrot in playing devils advocate for Ruba, I enjoyed his silly little canned maps. I still think he was a misunderstood mapper. 
 

Chris Wright was…well, I don’t wish he’d come back, as such, but I did actually like his maps and with a bit more contrition and humility I think he could’ve remained as one of the more interesting mappers here.

And I hope @scifista42 is ok :(

[HiMyNameIsChair]

Oh that's a tough one.. so many names come to mine

 

AtroNx

 

I can remember the exact moment i said to myself years ago that I wanted to give mapping a try. It was 2020, and i was playing Eviternity for the first time, and stepped into MAP15: Cryonology. The sight of a grand wintery castle... Its ornate halls draped in shadow... snow gently falling outside... and hearing Stuart Rynn's uplifting, jazzy and inexplicably melancholic midi scoring it all.

 

AtoNx's winter wonderland opened my eyes to what Doom could be as a tool for expression. it made me hungry to see as much of what the community had to offer as i possibly could.

 

They sadly disappeared in recent years, and seeing their at the time in a development project: Eden, never see completion, only fueled my desire to see them return for one more map.

 

B.P.R.D.

 

An expected answer but one i absolutely have to include. The Mucus Flow influenced nearly 2 decades of slime-centric map design, and seeing him reprise that would be fascinating. That and Grove is one of the most unexplainably emotional Doom experiences I've ever had, so i would jump for joy if he ever made a return.

 

Erik Alm 

 

Another easy answer, and one that I'm probably not alone in. Given Alm's far-reaching influence, seeing him return to reprise a school of mapping he is very much a figurehead of would be like Christmas in July.

 

Casalli's

 

God i want it. God i want it so bad. There is an entire family tree of influence and related schools of mapping that all trace their roots back to Plutonia. So seeing them come back for one more round would be incredible. Seeing how Dario Casalli has been active and playing through plenty of Doom on his Youtube channel, this one might be in the cards one day.

 

Malcolm Sailor

 

By far one of the most quietly influential combat designers of his era. His Chord series, especially Chord 3, was years ahead of its time, so seeing him return to the doom landscape he helped influence would be a sight to behold.

 

Death-Destiny

 

File this one under morbid curiosity. Disturbia is one of the most uncompromising, anxiety-inducing, and captivating maps I've ever played. Maybe it's the masochist in me talking, but part of me yearns to see just a little bit more... of Death Destiny's particular flavour of magic, as cold and twisted as it is.

 

Sverre Kvernmo

 

Easily one of the most influential mappers of the 90's in terms of creating atmosphere and setting, with Time Gate & Darkdome being hallmarks of the era. i'd kill to see what they'd do with modern tools.

 

Iikka Keränen

 

Keränen very much falls into the same camp as Kvernmo, being a highly influential figure of 90's mapping. Keränen definetly had some of the strongest visual chops of the era, and was a pioneer of Room over Room. Seeing them return with modern tools would be a treat.

 

Azamael & Lainos

 

These two are very much part of the same coin, being among Doom's Eastern European masters and former BoS members. I've always had a fascination with Lainos' command of atmosphere and setting, and Azamael produced some of the most abstract and experimental maps I've ever seen. so they're both easy picks.

 

 

Quick lightning round of Honorable mentions or picks with an asterisk

 

Darkwave: Seeing as he's influenced my own mapping enough that you'd swear he lives in my walls... it's not a surprise I'm picking him here. More an HM because it technically hasn't been that long since his 180 Minutes Pour Vivre contribution... so perhaps we haven't yet seen the end of the King of Slime? God, i hope so.

 

Nanka Kurashiki: I adore Kurashiki's work, and she's very much up there on the list of mappers i want to see more from. She gets an asterisk next to her because... with JPCP 2 apparently in the works... we might see her sooner rather than later~! Time will tell.

 

Eternal: Is anyone surprised he's on my list? probably not. Another technicality due to his PRCP 2 map, and the fact that Plutonia 3 is in development, and maybe when the great Russian master returns once more.

 

Anders Johnsen: 21 years removed is a hell of a long time,  but given Ola Björling's shocking return for Eviternity in 2018... you really can't count anyone out. Being an innovator of Slaughter/Slaughter-lite combat thanks to his AV contributions like Dark Dome and Lake Poison, he'd be someone i'd love to see make a return.

 

Rex Claussen: probably very few people's pick I'd imagine. I have a fascination with Claussen's particular brand of scale and how he creates a sense of place, with his CC1 and Eternal Doom 4 maps being fixations of mine.

 

Tom Mustaine: Revisiting Perditions gate has given me more of an appreciation for the professionalism of Mustane's work, so i'd definitely be interested to see him return.

 

Dutch Devil: A staple of 00's mapping and someone i've come to appreciate a lot over the years. Another technicality as IIRC his PRCP collab with Joshy is an older remixed map from Miscellaneous Mayhem.

 

Jodwin: His work for Clau1024 was already enough to make me interested in their return, but TBH.. it's Jade Earth that left me hungry for more. A Setting executed with such dedication, and unlike many maps i've ever seen.

 

 

Anyways, apologies for this being a mile long, but I guess thats a compliment to Doom's expansive and rich legacy of fascinating creators. Simply too many to pick just a handful.

Edited September 28, 2023 by HiMyNameIsChair

[Cutman 999]

Darkwave and gusta...

 

Darkwave is still active btw? i only see him once in a full moon... 

[OceanMadman]

30 minutes ago, Stupid Bunny said:

I’m 1000‰ in this camp and it’s definitely for the better. I get why people hate Central Processing, Administration Center and Mt. Pain, but i find them beautiful and inspirational to this day. Would love to see what Drake would make now, always enjoyed his willingness to play with scale, space, progression and idiosyncratic styling.

 

Also B.P.R.D. I will never shut up about how much I love Equinox. It made me cry too, no joke. Probably my favorite wad ever, for however questionable his balancing was his grasp of atmosphere will never be equaled.

 

Ill join @Pierrot in playing devils advocate for Ruba, I enjoyed his silly little canned maps. I still think he was a misunderstood mapper. 
 

Chris Wright was…well, I don’t wish he’d come back, as such, but I did actually like his maps and with a bit more contrition and humility I think he could’ve remained as one of the more interesting mappers here.

And I hope @scifista42 is ok :(

Central Processing? Equinox? Are you my alt-account :)?

[OniriA]

2 hours ago, whybmonotacrab said:

Huy Pham

Deus Vult

 

Uhmm..that is complicated, because he already came back, but you see.. ^*blushes*

 

Apparently he spends more time fappin' then mapping these days.  

 

Yea, I'm curious for more DV..

Edited September 28, 2023 by OniriA

[TJG1289]

I have a few off the top of my head:

Cyb: Void was one of the first WADs I ever played, and I think he would make some killer UDMF maps nowadays. 

 

The Ultimate Doomer: I would like a Super Sonic Doom sequel plz.

 

The JPCP crew: That WAD is one of the most unique WADs I've ever played, and I would love to see more maps by all of them. I hope that rumor Not Jabba heard is true! 

 

 

[Jakub Majewski]

I'd love if Bob Evans came back to finish up the Odessa series. Unfortunately, it seems like nobody has heard from him for a decade, so who knows if he's still around.

 

Jim Flynn's maps are among my favourites, but alas, he's no longer with us.

[RataUnderground]

John Romero, Sandy Petersen, Tom Hall, American McGee, and Tim Will... no, not that one.

[AnotherUser]

BPRD and Erik Alm, also Cyb I kinda miss the like full on zdoom featured wads.

[Murdoch]

7 hours ago, OceanMadman said:

Roger Ritenour. I kinda wonder what's known about him. Did he just upload his wads to the idgames archive and just vanished? Or was he active in any doom communlty at the time or something? 

 

I did some beta testing for him back in the day. Nice guy. Not sure what happened to him. I don't recall him ever being actively involved in the community; we communicated entirely via email. And I agree it would be great to see some new works from him.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Murdoch

[skillsaw]

5 hours ago, s4f3s3x said:

Skillsaw for another solo project, for Ultimate Doom possibly.

 

I know I don't post much, but I am still active and working on personal projects when I have time/energy.

 

Anyways, on topic, I haven't seen Vader mentioned and I'd love to see him make a comeback.

[Deffers]

Seconding BPRD and, in a more general way, I wish Laz Rojas would make a broader kind of comeback after the hell he's been through.

[Kuro_mahoh]

gggmork, his maps were interesting

[deleted-account]

While he's mainly known for his music, I always thought Mark Klem was underrated as a mapper and would love to see something new from him.