quakis

I've always wanted to join in on these from time to time, I might however have to be strict about what to play when rolling a random wad, probably sticking to single maps or short episodes unless a megawad takes my interest. That rules out a lot of stuff but time is limited and of course there can be exceptions. Since I write reviews primarily for my site, my thoughts will likely be posted up there if I have enough to say about a wad, otherwise those that don't quite fit the criteria these threads will be a perfect place to drop some lighter thoughts on something. I hope this first contribution counts however as it was covered twice during ER/IWA #79 which was what tempted me to download and check it out. Only recently got around to actually playing it though. The Secret Path (1996) by John Graham Crispy Doom / Ultra Violence I have a soft spot for older levels that try to put in their best effort, so although THEPATH is an unpolished experience, the environment does work well at establishing a sense of place. While linear there’s a kinetic flow across three distinct sections that paces itself well from key to key, returning you back to a central hub for ease into the next leg of your journey. Combat was too flat and simple without allowing monsters to perform to particular roles and become fodder to infighting, with a surplus of supplies or strange enemy behaviours making the whole process easier. THEPATH was Graham’s single output for DOOM and is a decent romp with fun showcase of effects and showed potential should they have continued their mapping career. Full review here: https://taw.duke4.net/2024/06/doom2/thepath/

Nice list, have many of these either in my library or wishlist so need to get around to actually playing them. I'm now kicking myself for not bringing up CrossCode for my initial list, excellent game that one. I love the tight parity between action and puzzle aspects, how it introduces a new mechanic and goes real indepth with it during the dungeon runs. Game expects you to get a good grasp on these abilities especially once it mixes them up with other mechanics and things get a lot more difficult. Really looking forward to their next work. How is Islands of the Caliph? I've tried one of their earlier work, Star Explorers, which felt a little undercooked and too simple overall when I played it, so have been hesitant on jumping on this one for now.

Void Stranger, is one of my favourite games from 2023 and without a doubt one of the best games I've played in a long while. It looks like a simple Gameboy style Sokoban puzzle game, but has so many layers and layers brewing under the surface, it was an incredibly satisfying experience figuring everything out. Stellar soundtrack too. La Mulana and La Mulana 2, puzzle/action platformer series where everything around you could be a vital clue to solving a mystery be it in the current area or several hours from now. The games feel ever more increasingly complex as time goes on as puzzles are narrowed down, while many are left unsolved across the many areas. Combat/Bosses can also be quite tough and unforgiving. There's no other games quite like what the La Mulana games pull off that feel like an indepth archeological adventure. The second game might be a little easier for newcomers to get into with its quality of life improvements. Sekiro, while not obscure when speaking of FROMSOFTWARE in general, it's one game of theirs that often gets forgotten about amongst Dark Souls, Bloodborne or Elden Ring discussions. I consider it their best work with highly satisfying combat mechanics and great boss fights. There's some really nice locales to explore without going overboard with world scale which put me off playing most of Elden Ring. Sekiro a much tighter focused game. Will also vouch for both Cruelty Squad and Caves of Qud already mentioned from earlier posts. There are others but these are the most notable from the top of my head right now. I've never agreed with the "games aren't fun any more" notion, always finding something neat coming out every year and it's typically from the indie scene. Haven't given much attention to the vast majority of the AAA scene and the major publishers for many many years now and honestly don't miss any of it.

@Matt Eldrydge Neat level! Enjoyed my time getting lost within its halls. Wrote up a review you can find here: https://taw.duke4.net/2024/05/doom2/eraser/ Came across one issue during my first run but I haven't been able to replicate it since (played version2 using DSDA): I hope you'll consider an /idgames upload, it would be a shame to lose this one to temp hosting services.

MAP21: U-Turn the Tables, my entry as part of the Alphabet Doom community project which made its /idgames release recently.

I might have to drop out for MAP17. I've been stubbornly commited trying to make an idea work out but just haven't been able to make any significant progress nor satisfied with any of my results so far. It's reached a point I've stopped having any fun mapping at the moment, especially as the deadline now closes in and my mind is elsewhere right now. Apologises for leaving it so late with this update.

An adjustment for the txt file, MAP21 midi credits: Darkess.mid by pcorf

I usually check up on project threads periodically and update accordingly (at least once or twice a week minimum). As long as your thread is up to date that should be enough. Do feel free to message me if the tracker info remains out-of-date for too long or I've missed a significant update (such as deadline changes or the project's release).

I love checking back on these threads to find some nice curiosities like this one here, went and played the entire Escape series and had a good time with them, Natas especially. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention! It's too bad these three seem to be their only wad releases. See this encounter becomes more fascinating than it appears at first. My initial run wasn't much different than yours, I wouldn't have enough ammo to deal with this army so opted to run and that leads to them following into the starting area and potentially block up the final hallway, a really neat concept on its own. However there were many seemingly "useless" features across the level that didn't quite sit right with me and gave the level another spin after checking some suspicions out in the editor. Curious design and choices at play here:

Good news to see we've hit RC1, I still need to check out MAP22 though. Out of curiousity will you be creating a new release thread separate from this dev thread eventually?

Played on HMP as recommended. Excellent level, enjoyed the concept and many set pieces, made for some unique scenarios and too many close calls. Didn't like the finale much though, personal preferences, but everything else up until then makes up for that. The cave encounter with AV/HKs was above my capabilities but somehow managed to scrape by with patience. Here's a full review: https://taw.duke4.net/2024/01/doom2/mudman/

@intacowetrust Only recently discovered PsyDoom and got it up and running. After being hit by a wave of nostalgia, I then gave this level a spin. Very atmospheric piece of work that captures what makes the ambiance of PSX Doom tick for me. The use of colour especially stood out that helped establish a distinct mood during the earlier cavern and dungeon portions. I'd love to see more works like this. Here's my full review: https://taw.duke4.net/2024/01/doom2/caldera-ow/

May I claim MAP17? I have an experimental idea in mind with the episode theme but uncertain if it'll work out just yet, but would rather claim now than miss out.

So it's already been a year since I started maintaining this list! It was a daunting idea at first but I've since settled into a workflow that keeps the whole process going smoothly. So, here's to another year! I've made some minor changes to the list format: New icons for music / art so they're a bit more obvious from a glance. Added project lead names beneath the project title link Removed the "non-map submission" section, these projects will go into the master list as normal, not enough of them to justify an entire dedicated section Placed "inactive" and "closed" projects under spoiler tags to keep the list tidier. The tracker has also been cleaned up to best represent the current activity for the start of 2024. I've decided I should be a more strict about threads being inactive, as it doesn't seem very encouraging or helpful to people having to sort past inactive projects to find an active one to join. Therefore I've moved some projects under the inactive header which lack updates for a significant length of time; either via an update to the opening post or recent posting from the project lead. Going forward, after roughly 3 months of inactivity, give or take, I'll designate the [Quiet] tag under Status, which means it'll be soon be moved under the inactive header where further inactivity will have it removed from the tracker until further notice. If however activity does pick up again, I'll glady re-add those projects to the main tracker. I simply want to stress once again that the purpose of this thread and my goal here is to keep eyes on the active projects looking for participants. Cheers!

Will do. Also as some friendly forum advice please try to avoid quoting entire posts especially if they're long, in future consider trimming down the quote to the portion you're specifically replying to, it otherwise causes too much unnecessary clutter. Cheers.