Along with the faint scent of fresh coffee, so to with the rising sun does Saturday morning bring with it another edition of this weekly feature article. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Oldstuff Chronicles.
Of all the various levels and experiences that I have exposed you to in the weeks prior to today, today's feature was a very difficult choice for me to arrive at and is unusual in two aspects. Bear with me...
First, today's feature numbers among the very first external levels for DOOM(2) that I ever had the pleasure to play. Stop for a moment and ponder that -- me, now the seasoned creator of several successful levels and battle-hardened veteran of far more DOOM levels than I can possibly recall, taking his very first steps into the great unknowns of the plethora of maps available.
This first point leads to my second -- today's feature is the only level of the several previously examined that I have been less than confident about sharing with the DOOM community. Why? Because I suspect that a number of you will strongly dislike the level that I am about to present you with, and I am hesitant to expose a map as distinct and powerfully nostalgic as Voidship II to such harsh criticism.
The author of Voidship II, Kevin McGrail, was inspired to create a ship in the heavens run by the forces of Hell when he first caught sight of the starry sky of a previous Oldstuff feature, Doomsday of the UAC, back in 1994. The end result of McGrail's now-revered muse, creativity, and several refinements over the years resulted in the final product -- a map worthy of being featured here on Doomworld.
Voidship II is a keenly textured, well-populated, puzzle-driven piece of art. McGrail forces the player to use his or her brains as much, if not more, than the arsenal presented to combat the environment and enemies presented throughout the level, often giving the player with a destination but no obvious path to reach it. I begrudgingly selected Voidship II for today's article for fear that some of you will despise it, but I hope that you prove me wrong on that and embrace Voidship II with an open mind and experience it for everything that it is -- creative, encompassing, and interesting. It is time well spent. Do take care, and enjoy!
Note: those of you without DOOM2 should be aware that a version of this level exists for DOOM.
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