The /newstuff Chronicles #181

Why hello, as you can see it is I, Sarge of Baldy, and I've just returned from a magical adventure to /newstuff-land, where I've seen all sorts of outerworldly things.. which of course, I promptly slaughtered. Here I have written down the memoirs of my fabulous journey, which I wish to share with you. Eight lands of perilous evil for you to conquer, although three of them don't even have monsters so don't pretend you're all that cool. Let us begin our fantabulous journey, shall we?

• By the Pain I See In Others by Patrik Höglund
  159kb - Vanilla Doom2 (limitless port recommended to avoid Savegame Buffer Overflow) - SP - Map16 -
  A very nice map set in some sort of slimey base in a cavern. Or something like that anyway. The map not only looks good, but plays quite nice as well. The detail isn't merely a bunch of copy and paste crap, I think most of it is fairly creative and intelligent. Nukage and and cavernlike environments don't come together very often so I personally found the theme quite interesting. The atmosphere also improves the environment, and most of the way through it feels fairly dark and moody. The few drawbacks I can really point out is there's a fair number of misalignments, both on the x and y axis, although these are fairly easy to overlook and don't really hurt the map much. It also feels a bit weaker as it goes on, both in terms of the map design and the gameplay.
  
  Verdict: Definitely worth checking out.
  
  
• Brains! Part 1: The Beginning by Shawn Huckabay
  2025kb - ZDoom + Doom2 - SP - Map01 -
  This map is, if nothing else, certainly interesting. This wad seemed to have been designed to scare the player, and it actually does succeed on a few occasions. The Wolfenstein zombies can look very funny in Doom, giving it sort of a bad horror movie feel. The map isn't very detailed or anything, rather the author seemed to concentrate on the atmosphere and new stuff. The new weapons don't really affect the gameplay that much but watch out for the zombies that want to bite off your legs, they can hurt you far more than you might expect after having experienced pinky demons trying to do the same thing.
  
  Verdict: Not a great map, but original enough that it might be worth a look.
  
  
• Metro2 by Carlos Guariglia
  249kb - CDoom + Doom2 - SP - Map24 -
  Yes, a CDoom map. CDoom is a port by Carlos Guariglia that was released not long ago, and yes, that's the same guy who made this map. From what I can gather, this is a test map demonstrating his port, which is based off MBF and features Legacy's 3d platforms. This map has neither monsters nor an exit, so don't expect terrifyingly exciting gameplay.
  
  Verdict: Only get this if you're curious to see what CDoom is capable of.
  
  
• Metro3 by Carlos Guariglia
  132kb - CDoom + Doom2 - SP - Map24 -
  Pretty much the same idea as the wad listed above.
  
  
• 3D Horror by Magnus Olsson
  98kb - Legacy + Doom2 - SP - Map01 -
  This map seems to have been either as a stress test for Legacy or for the player's patience. Use of the 3d floors feature is very rampant here, and I wouldn't say it has a positive effect on the design. The overall theme feels very newbish, and I noticed details here that seemed more like an experiment to learn Doom editing than a genuine attempt at trying to make something that looked good. These on the whole tended to hurt rather than benefit the look of the map. The texture use looks circa 1995, and the gameplay comes across more as frustrating than fun.
  
  Verdict: New author still learning to map. Unless 3d floors really excite you, you should probably pass this one by.
  
  
• Somewhat Simple by Sgt. Crispy
  40kb - ZDoom - DM - Map01 -
  A tribute to Doom2 Map07 based off... Doom2 Map07 (ssh, no one tell Ty!) The map is designed for DM and
  features no monsters. For the most part it's the same map with some graphical boosts (including slopes)
  and a remix of the old gameplay. I don't really have friends, so, how it plays... well, I dunno. Play it for yourself and see.
  
  Verdict: Worthy update to a classic DM map.
  
  
• Blood Resource Pack Build 1 by Daniel "Tormentor667" Gimmer
  2320kb - ZDoom
  A large Blood texture set set up for ZDoom, complete with an ANIMDEFS lump. Seems to include textures from the Blood Plasma Pack as well. This should indeed be a handy resource for prospective mappers.
  
  
• City of the Damned by Daniel "Tormentor667" Gimmer
  2691kb - ZDoom - SP - Map01 -
  Well look what we have here. A new map by the author of the Torment and Torture series, City of the Damned certainly meets up their level of quality. Featuring the newly released Blood Resource Pack mentioned above, the map's theme is that of... *drumroll*... yes, an abandoned city plagued with monsters. The detailing is top-notch and the atmosphere is even better.. great lighting combined with productive use of the new textures work together to give the map a spooky, very original feel. The gameplay is pretty difficult and make sure to watch out for groups of stealth arch-viles... as much as you can, anyway. My only real complaints are a few misalignments here and there and a sign declaring a building a cemetery and crematorium when it looks more like a library on one side and a morgue on the other, with no cemetery in the immediate area.
  
  Verdict: A really good map, highly recommended.
  
  Note: The last review comes to us from AgentSpork, since I didn't think it'd be cool (or useful) for me to review my own map.
  
  
• Parcheesi by Owen "Sarge Baldy" Lloyd
  81kb - Vanilla Doom2 - SP - Map01 -
  Parcheesi isn't exactly a huge map, but there are a few things that make it seem so. This map starts innocently enough, with only a few imps and some shotgun guys to deal with, but it doesn't stay that way. In fact, after exiting the first room, you are bombarded by masses of hell knights and mancubuses without enough ammo to kill them all. As I said the map actually isn't that large, but the huge monster count makes it seem so. Overall a pretty good looking map, that doesn't have a super-high level of detail, but still looks decent. I did notice a couple of texture problems, such as the door right at the beginning being upper unpegged. If you like ultra-hard maps then this is the map for you. On the other hand, if you don't like ultra-hard maps, then I'm not quite so sure.