The DWmegawad Club plays: Realm of Chaos

What is the DWmegawad Club?
This is a place where we settle down, have a cup of tea (or drink of your choice) and take a month to play through a megawad on our own, together! Any keen observations, criticisms, or frustrated ranting about it goes here in the discussion. As long as you want to say something about what you've played, feel free to speak your mind.

Can I join?
Sure. The only rule is that you have to play at least some of the levels in our monthly megawad to contribute, but you're generally encouraged to finish the whole thing, even if you've played it before.

What levels am I allowed to post about?
Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on. So if it's the 6th, you may discuss up to MAP06.

Do I have to post an entry every day?
Nope, not at all. This is only for our more enthusiastic members. As long as you play through it with us you’re part of the club.

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The megawad we are playing through is Realm of Chaos

>>>DOWNLOAD REALM OF CHAOS HERE<<<
(Like with Memento Mori, the megawad comes with a seperate wad [which changes some sprites], so I compiled it with the original and added automap names: DOWNLOAD HERE)

Flash back to ‘96 where a bunch of mappers on the mac got some neat editors to fiddle around with. After being recruited to TMT (The MacIntosh Team—clever!) they put together a megawad in six months packed to the brim with classic action. Here's to hoping this blast to the past holds up!

Author and maplist:

Quote

MAP01 - “Dropoff” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP02 - “Outpost 27” by Antoni Chan
MAP03 - “Mars Base Alpha” by Clint Sago and Rob Berkowitz
MAP04 - “Sewers” by Jim Bagrow
MAP05 - “Mission Control” by Slava Pestov
MAP06 - “Splatterhouse” by Steve Duff
MAP07 - “Deathstay” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP08 - “Research Lab” by Slava Pestov
MAP09 - “Machine Gun Etiquette” by Steve Duff
MAP10 - “Hollow Oblivion” by Jason Fowler
MAP11 - “Mars StarPort” by Antoni Chan
MAP12 - “Home Sweet Home” by Jason Fowler
MAP13 - “Bloodlands” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP14 - “Die Hard” by Jim Bagrow
MAP15 - “Infestation” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP31 - “The Mansion” by Slava Pestov
MAP32 - “Nowhere to Hide” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP16 - “The Wolf's Hour” by Jim Bagrow
MAP17 - “No Escape” by Antoni Chan
MAP18 - “Dead Radio” by Steve Duff
MAP19 - “Port Fury” by Steve Duff
MAP20 - “Teleporter Central” by Antoni Chan
MAP21 - “The Prison” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP22 - “Nova Akropola” by Steve Duff
MAP23 - “Ancalagon” by Steve Duff
MAP24 - “Burnt Guts” by Slava Pestov
MAP25 - “Castle of the HellKnights” by Antoni Chan
MAP26 - “Above and Below” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP27 - “Venom” by Steve Duff
MAP28 - “Fortress of Death” by Slava Pestov
MAP29 - “The Fountain” by Rob Berkowitz
MAP30 - “Apocalypse” by Rob Berkowitz

BONUS CONTENT
Doom Speed Demos
Where's All the Data?'s playthrough: 1 2a 2b 2c
Suitepee's playthrough: 1a 1b 1c 2a 2b
----------
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OLD THREADS
BF_THUD!
Community Chest 4
Jenesis
MAYhem 2012
Memento Mori
Interception
2002: A Doom Odyssey
Hadephobia
Coffee Break & Fava Beans & Double Impact
HYMN
Stardate 20X6 & Monochrome Mapping Project
Realm of Chaos
Back to Saturn X E1 & Favillesco E1
Kama Sutra
Unholy Realms & Zone 300
Vile Flesh
Ultimate Doom
Whitemare & Sacrament
Scythe
Epic 2
Whitemare 2

Ah, house of bunnies sounds a interesting wad title lol

Wow, I'm still working through the Monochrome Mapping Project yet I'm automatically considered for doing a playthrough of this for the thread? Consider myself flattered, especially since I'm a newcomer to these here parts! (I have enjoyed doing these threads so far)

But I don't think I'll be able to provide a playthrough, at least not in my Let's Play style. I'm going to be waiting for 'Switcheroom' after I complete MMP, so you MIGHT see me do a livestream of this on my channel if I feel like it. Just don't be surprised if I don't contribute anything this time around. I'll let the thread know in due course, after I finish Monochrome.

^ Aw, shame. The first few levels so far are pretty short so I don't think it'll be as time intensive as some other mapsets if that helps sway your opinion. Write-ups aren't necessary as I do enjoy listening to your commentary as you play through the map, so at least keep a livestream in mind.

Sweet, a compiled version!

Before each level, I'm probably going to watch a demo of the level I'll be playing on. I really like how Heretic and Hitherto compiled their UV-MAX demos, and I plan to follow their routes as well attempting UV-MAX style of play (although not necessarily as fast or accurate).

I think I might participate. It's very possible I'll drop off the wagon at some point, but I'll try get to the end.

MAP01: Dropoff

A somewhat plain starter map, although considering it's from 1996 it carries itself rather well. There's quite a few traps that can catch you unawares, but it plays reasonably well without too much of a leap in difficulty. Also, no music replacement. Da-dun-da-dun-da-dun-da-dun-dun-DUN! You know what I'm talking about. Use IDMUS## or a music replalement wad. Killed all monsters and missed one secret(damn the author for knowing how to use the "Secret" flag! :P)

MAP02: Outpost 27

No idea why the writing's different colours. This one was rather cramped, but for some reason it appealed to me a bit more than MAP01. It's jam-packed full of enemies, has clever gameplay and some nice visuals going for it. Make sure you have room to manouvere though: I ended up getting cornered by an angry Hell Knight and only just escaped. :D I liked the secrets as well, they were pretty cool. Killed all monsters and got all the secrets.

Map01 – Dropoff by Rob Berkowitz – Kills – 100, Items – 100, Secret – 100. Time 9:31. End Health 172, Armor 69. Death Count - 1

Opening Comments

Ah, those thrilling days of yesteryear! As the last Realm of Chaos mapper still active in the Doom community, I want to start by saying a few things about the project and about this map’s author, Rob Berkowitz.

First, the project was the idea of Clint Sago. Doom 2 had appeared on the Macintosh in summer 1995, ported by Lion Entertainment, who did a famously awful job of it. Lion ported the game in its bare essentials, leaving out some important functionality, such as the ability to record and play demos. The only cool thing about MacDoom compared to the DOS version was the music. The MIDI Instruments in Quicktime for MacOS 7.5.1 thru 7.5.3 made the music sound great, especially for E1M3’s “The Dark Halls,” which sounded like it had a human chorus. Very creepy.

Not surprisingly, there was no deep bench of apps for MacDoom, including editors. Eventually, DEU was ported as Demon, and in 1996, Paul Davidson released Hellmaker, a beautiful piece of work in its UI, but notoriously crashy. I personally saved after every 10 sectors.

Realm of Chaos was launched probably within two or three months after Hellmaker appeared. I don’t remember exactly when Hellmaker was released, but my first map, which earned me a spot on The Macintosh Team, is dated 5-16-1996, probably at most 3 months after release.

It would be presumptuous to say that the mappers who ended up on Realm of Chaos were the best the MacDoom scene had to offer. It would be closer to the truth to say that we were practically the only MacDoom mappers available. We were all noobs and we learned as we went. Most of us had no dealings with the larger Doom community. Instead, we were Doom junkies gathering at MacDoom Review, a HyperCard-based magazine put together by Dave Kramer. We wrote reviews of WAD files and were able to keep track of what few MacDoom apps became available. And IIRC, it was in MacDoom Review that the Realm of Chaos project was announced and people were asked to contribute maps, which we always referred to as “levels” in those days. I was probably the last person to join after a fellow known as Two-Gun Mojo backed out of the project.

Clint Sago built the team and by June, 1996, things were in full swing. An ambitious launch date of Halloween night, 1996, was set. That’s right, a bunch of noob mappers with a crashy editor were tasked with finishing a full megawad in 6 months. What could possibly go wrong? ;D

With 7 mappers each contributing 4 – 5 maps, the project was at least conceivable, but before long it became obvious that several mappers could not meet their quota. One of these was team leader Clint Sago, whose only map in the set was actually completed by Rob Berkowitz. But I ain’t talking smack about Clint. He did plenty of work, including all the great sky textures and cobwebs, the title pic and lettering, and the somewhat dodgy texture and sprite modifications which I personally never use. ;D Clint also did a good job of distant leadership by delegating the task of running the project to his capable Executive Officer, Rob Berkowitz.

Rob is a great guy and I kept in touch with him for several years after RoC was released. He managed to do 11 maps in 6 months, including one of the secret maps (Map 32), while holding down an intense job doing lab research on AIDS. I’d say he was our most expert mapper, being the best at texture alignment and understanding of Doom functions. Rob, along with myself, was also the primary playtester. Rob and I playtested the entire megawad on every difficulty setting except ITYTD and Nightmare, in both continuous play and pistol starts.

Thanks to Rob’s amazing energy, Realm of Chaos version 1.0 was, in fact, released on Halloween night, 1996. RoC is not, as many people believe, a 1999 mapset. Version 1.4 (this one) was released in 1999 to fix an obscure bug in Map03, and I have no idea what that bug was. ;D

And the rest, as they say, is history!

BTW, I’d like to thank those members of the Russian Doom Community, Heretic, Hitherto and SAV88, whose amazing speedruns revived my interest in this old megawad. I see a few other names on the list that I’m not familiar with, and will check their runs out as soon as I can.

Map Commentary

Dropoff displays Rob’s tendency towards logical structure and good traps. He was one of those mappers who put it all down on paper before opening the editor. This is a nice, solid Map01 without any notable mistakes, though one could quibble about the Soulsphere secret. The opening battle against the zombieboys is very easy, but this time I really got nailed by the first trap, rather embarrassing since I can usually play the first 3 maps without getting killed. I was reduced to 37% health by the Sergeants and soon finished off in one of the side hallways, mainly because I decided not to grab the Soulsphere since I wanted to leave the map at 200%. I consider leaving at 172 a major personal failure. ;D I also wasted a lot of time backtracking to get all the dropped ammo from the Sergeants I killed.

I like Rob’s height variations and how you can see the Green Armor through the first window. Detail level is a bit low by later standards, but was competitive in its time. All in all a fine start for the mapset.

SteveD said:
Doom 2 had appeared on the Macintosh in summer 1995, ported by Lion Entertainment, who did a famously awful job of it. Lion ported the game in its bare essentials, leaving out some important functionality, such as the ability to record and play demos. The only cool thing about MacDoom compared to the DOS version was the music. The MIDI Instruments in Quicktime for MacOS 7.5.1 thru 7.5.3 made the music sound great, especially for E1M3’s “The Dark Halls,” which sounded like it had a human chorus. Very creepy.

How about unlimited game saves. I don't remember to much about it since I haven't had a mac since the early 2000's, but I was introduced to Doom through the mac. So when I got Doom collectors edition in 2006 I was disappointed in the lack of save slots.

Map02 – Outpost 27 by Antoni Chan – Kills – 100, Items – 66, Secret – 100. Time 10:22. End Health 100, Armor 96. Death Count - Zero

Since Obsidian jumped the gun on Map02, I’ll offer my 2 cents as well. :D

I flat-out love this map, and it’s always been one of my favorites from the megawad.

Mapper History

Antoni Chan was one of our teenage terrors. He was 15 when he worked on RoC, yet was probably the most experienced mapper coming into the project, because he mapped with Demon, which came out before Hellmaker.

I encountered Antoni in the AOL MacDoom community, and was completely blown away by his 4 or 5-map Escape.wad. This was a very sophisticated mapset, and his first released project, and it made everything else on the AOL MacDoom forums look sad, including my map. Escape earned Antoni a spot on the team, and eventually, at least one of those maps ended up in RoC. I’ll note that when we get to it – or them. ;D

The justification for using previously released maps in RoC was that time was of the essence, and Escape had never been officially released at CD-ROM.com, and is still not at idgames to this day. I probably have this mapset on a currently inaccessible Mac HD.

Antoni ended up as a crucial link in getting RoC put together. Shortly before the release date, Antoni was given a PC. This allowed him to record all the demos, which could not be done with MacDoom, and to put all the files together, including the all-important text file, which is always borked if done on a Mac.

After RoC, Antoni began designing deathmatch maps for Quake and I soon lost track of him. The last I knew, he was at university and enjoying himself as a musician. That probably would have been 1999 or 2000.

Map Commentary

This is a wonderfully-constructed map, with squinchy little rooms hosting some rather powerful monsters, arranged in a circle around a central square. As Obsidian noted, you’ll find yourself up close and personal with at least one Hell Knight, not to mention some unpleasant encounters with Chaingunners. There are windows on each side of the main corridor, allowing you to see out into a yard separated by low walls. The entire thing, apart from numerous violations of the Floor Texture Rule, is very tastefully done and good-looking. I sometimes wonder if the reason Antoni designed so many small rooms was because he used a Mac Performa with a 68040/25, roughly comparable to a 486 of the same speed, but probably with very little VRAM, so that big areas might look really bad.

I also enjoyed the sneaky little secrets in this map, and the use of height variation allowing monsters to attack the player from above in some tight situations. I find the whole thing to be very clever and admire it in the way one admires the kind of thing they can’t – or won’t – do. This map clicks along with the precision of a Swiss watch and Antoni’s texture flow is excellent. I literally enjoy everything about this map and I was always one of Antoni’s biggest fans.

Jaws In Space said:

How about unlimited game saves. I don't remember to much about it since I haven't had a mac since the early 2000's, but I was introduced to Doom through the mac. So when I got Doom collectors edition in 2006 I was disappointed in the lack of save slots.

I hate to admit it, but I last played MacDoom in 2000 or so, so I don't remember it having unlimited save slots. I'm guessing that's what you mean. If that's the case, it really is a cool feature. Score one for MacDoom!

MAP03: Mars Base Alpha

I'm not sure if I like this more than MAP02 or not: there's something about the design of this particular map that I dig quite a lot. It's very cleanly designed, and while it might not be as detailed as MAP02 it still manages to be very aesthetically pleasing. Gameplay is pretty decent too, with the wad's first SSG for you to use. I was slightly careless and exited the map with about a quarter of my health, but I still enjoyed myself. Killed all monsters, didn't get the secret.

MAP04: Sewers

Blarg.

I don't like this one. Considering the pittance of health I had, I got mowed down by the chaingunner multiple times before I just went "Screw it" and ignored him. The map starts off with a pitfall into a pitch-black square filled with monsters, which isn't the best of scenarios in anyone's book. I haven't beaten this one yet, and if I'm perfectly honest I'm not that willing to try at the moment. Maybe later.

Obsidian said:

MAP04: Sewers

"Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on."

It's still July 1st, man :)

Capellan said:

"Whatever day of the month it is, is the upper limit for the map you can post on."

It's still July 1st, man :)

I should have looked at the rules, shouldn't I? *Sheepish grin*

Sorry about that.

Out of curiosity, what's your playstyle, Obsidian?

For Realm of Chaos, I'm returning to my normal leisure playstyle--Eternity, mouselook w/classic Doom aiming functionality, no infinity-tallness, Ultraviolence, pistol-starts, etc. If I break something doing this, I'll just bitch and moan at Steve about it, even though the fault will be mine entirely. This is what you signed up for wanting us to play your WAD, dude! Oh, also, I'm using the idgames version of the mapset, where the sprite WAD is separate/optional. I'll try it out for the first couple of maps, and ditch it later if I don't like it (I think when I played RoC years ago I never used it). I'm also considering using the PalPlus palette again (which I last used on Interception) just for variety's sake, not that this will make any difference in the gameplay.

Without further ado...

*Cracks knuckles*

Map 01 -- Dropoff - 100% Kills / 100% Secrets
Looking at the maplist for RoC, it appears that most of the maps I have a clear memory of are by Berkowitz (although I also remember Steve's 'Splatterhouse!'), and this is one of them. I like this as a map 01--it's very easy, but also has actual encounter design, as opposed to just plopping down some basic enemies in your path and waiting for map 02 to really start the show.

The main room with the scattered crates has been well thought-out. first the crates hide some deaf zombiemen--I ran in, woke them all up at once, and punched them all out, because I whimsically/airheadedly decided on the spur of the moment that the marine who stars in RoC is a martial-artsy type (a few unnecessary deaths are bound to occur down the line because of this, but hell, it's all in good fun). Next, room-length wall shutters open up exposing you on three sides to fire from the animated corpses of the fireteam that preceded you into the base--from all of the bloodstains on the server cases, it looks like they were corralled and massacred past the red door. Those crates make good cover from the zombies (although what I did is just charge in, grab a shotgun, and mow them down in droves), or they would if not for the imps that climb out of them to fire from a high angle--like I said, this whole fight seems consciously choreographed, and I'm not surprised to see Steve say that Berkowitz was given to planning things out carefully before he began mapping. The ambush in the second warehouse room with the control tower is also a good idea, although it doesn't play out as well because there just simply aren't enough imps behind the walls--there needed to be two or three times as many, at least, or alternately a few hitscanners to supplement them. The bridge-building sequence at the end is fine, although I'd say it's definitely the map's low point.

Aesthetically, it's serviceable and has a cohesive color/texture theme, although some of the side corridors and the periphery of the big warehouse room are very bland--more sector lighting or the likes (which Berkowitz clearly knew how to do, if the exit chamber is anything to go by) would've helped. I like the sky replacement--it looks great with PalPlus. As for the sprites, well, jury's still out on that one....I'm not feeling the stimpack/medikit edits, but I'm okay with the blue shells and the Blake Stone-ish bullet clips. The armor vest is amusing, with its gaudy The Mac Team branding--while it offers the same level of protection as any plain ol' standard issue security armor, I'll bet you this one costs about 1,500 UAC credits more, just for having the team logo of a pack of Doom celebrities on it. ;)

Solid starter. Looks a bit boring, but the fights suited me.

playing like this: prboom-plus -file rlmchaos rlmsprt mm2mus -complevel 2 -skill 4 -warp XX -record rlmchaosXX-mem-justplay

01 - demo - simple starter map, somehow it doesn't feel like any other level I've ever played, probably because people normally don't use COMPSPAN as the main texture? Can't say it looks fantastic but it sure is a unique level. I like how the trap with walls around you opening kind of repeats but it's different enough the second time. The final part with a gradually rising bridge is a bit slow though.

Realm of Chaos. I have fond memories of this because it was the first user-made Megawad I ever played -- and it inspired me to get into the whole mapping shebang, back in 1999. Anywho.

MAP01 - DROPOFF
by Rob Berkowitz

This is a great starting map, even if it's not the best-looking; although the ugliness of repeatedly-tiling COMPSPAN textures is offset by such a beautiful E1 sky. Difficulty is nice, with an initially-tight-on-ammo shootout with a few zombiemen giving way to a predominantly-shotgun map (in terms of both weapon use and enemy use) for the most part. Final area with raising walkways is nice enough, but all that silver grates on the eyes a little. Secrets are nothing special to find, although I would consider a Supercharge a bit much of a giveaway at this point. Still a nice intro though.

I've played a couple of maps ahead, because I don't know if I'll be able to do this every day. However, I'm not posting the write-ups early. ;)

Pr-Boom+, HMP, continuous, no music, spamming F5/F9. The usual, in other words :)

Map01
Attack of the compspan!

Very plain architecture and texturing speaks of the wad's age. Not feeling the sprite or texture edits so far, but I'm playing the merged wad, so they'll be with me for another 29-31 levels, depending on my success in finding secrets.

Opening very mild. Red key trap is easily the highlight of the map. Everything else is a tad on the anemic side, with the bridge building at the end being a rather tiresome conclusion, unfortunately.

Might give this one a look later on, seeing as I'm not jumping between any other WADs right now.

Ok, lets see if I can keep up with this one. I know nothing about this wad, as usual I'll be playing UV pistol starts with saves if it gets too tricky.

MAP01 - “Dropoff” by Rob Berkowitz

Straight away I am getting ye olde wad vibe from this. I know it seems wrong to judge old wads by modern standards but its pretty grey and square and uniformly textured, even compared to original doom. The custom sprites are a nice touch, although I'm not keen on blue ammo..

This map actually killed me on the red key trap I'm ashamed to say, I wasted all my bullets on the imps and then had only fists against a ring of hitscanners. Crate arrow made me LOL out loud, and the invisibility rendered remaining shotgunners pretty harmless. Very basic.

I'm hoping the future maps live up to their names, especially "burnt guts"

Obsidian said:

MAP03: Mars Base Alpha

MAP04: Sewers

Blarg.

I don't like this one. Considering the pittance of health I had, I got mowed down by the chaingunner multiple times before I just went "Screw it" and ignored him. The map starts off with a pitfall into a pitch-black square filled with monsters, which isn't the best of scenarios in anyone's book. I haven't beaten this one yet, and if I'm perfectly honest I'm not that willing to try at the moment. Maybe later.

I'll just say that "I feel your pain." :D I'll have quite a write-up for this one on the appointed day, but suffice to say it is beatable if you don't mind getting your face mashed into the dirt as often as I did. ;D

Demon of the Well said:

Out of curiosity, what's your playstyle, Obsidian?

If I break something doing this, I'll just bitch and moan at Steve about it, even though the fault will be mine entirely. This is what you signed up for wanting us to play your WAD, dude!

Oh, I know it. Too bad pcorf isn't playing this, as he could inflict some instant kharma on me. I'm kind of begging for it, actually. ;D

Playing this in GZDoom v. 1.4.8. no jumping/crouching and no mouselook on HMP, continuous, attempting max kills/secrets on each level.

MAP01 Dropoff

Ah yes, the gray one.

I basically followed Heretic's route here, killing about one or two zombieman and quickly grabbing the key and running. Heretic apparently decided not to grab the green armor, this would save time but I decided to grab it myself to make it easier. Combat was handled well. Two secrets, a blur artifact which was pretty easy enough, and a soulsphere/armor bonus secret which caused me so much grief back when I played this (but thanks to Heretic's demo, I now know how to get it!) The final area with nukage, I simply pressed every switch, as I definitely don't have Heretic's straferunning skills (can't say I didn't attempt though). Overall, a good starter level, one I can easily remember. Final Time 2:29.

Hurricyclone said:

and a soulsphere/armor bonus secret which caused me so much grief back when I played this (but thanks to Heretic's demo, I now know how to get it!)

Actually, that secret is revealed in the pre-game demos. I forgot to mention that although Antoni Chan did the demos for version 1.0, Rob Berkowitz did the demos for this version -- Antoni had left the building by then. :D God only knows why Rob decided to reveal this secret to anyone who doesn't warp straight to Map01.

Really nice retrospective Steve. Like with Jimmy's side-by-side analysis of Jenesis, it's always fascinating about all the minutiae regarding the project. Berkowitz completing so many maps by himself while doing research is utterly astounding.

Anyway, you guys know the drill: UV, pistol start, keyboard only, saving freely.

MAP01: We have a good opening map that pulls no punches, pitting the player against a plethora of pellet poppin’ peons to perforate. All the alliteration aside, I’m surprised to see a great balance of health here on UV and a nice layout—the boxes are spread wide and far enough to motivate the player to enter each area instead of camping in the doorway, but the enemies are littered just far enough that they can converge easily on your position and be quite a hassle. There’s some minor traps here which are thankfully negated with the invisibility sphere (which elicited a laugh from me thanks to the crates being used as an arrow) and ends on a somewhat slow but still amusing toxic room. Good to see health in the exit area too. I’ve always liked COMPSPAN so it does that job for me; very impressed with Berkowitz’ first outing so far.

I think I might start contributing to the club this time around. I'm not an especially good player, so I'll be doing this in Zdoom with as much faithfulness to vanilla as I can muster. That means no jumping/crouching, but mouselook and no autoaim and playing on HMP. (Playing with just the keyboard hurts a bit.)

Anyway, without further ado:

Map01 - Dropoff 100% Kills|100% Items|100% Secret - 07:09
Health 189 - Armor 88 | 0 Deaths

First impressions are actually pretty positive. The new sprites are a little weird, but I like the more detailed, sci-fi feel to them and the blues grant some nice variation to the normal Doom palette. Not too awfully fond of the TMT lettering on everything, but it's not distracting. The new graphics do give this map a bit of flavor that it would otherwise be lacking.

We're mostly talking square rooms, hallways, and boxes, with very little in the way of light variation or landmarks. Oh, joy! However, despite the fairly simplistic layout, boxy architecture, and clunky flow, the map ended up being fun for a few reasons. Firstly, the monster layout was nice, even with only the lowest-tier monsters, forcing me to dodge and use cover. Secondly, the traps were, while predictable, at least fairly fun.

Overall, a fairly forgettable and quaint intro to the mapset.

Going with Zdoom 2.6.1, UV, pistol starts and no saves if possible. No mouselook/jumping/crouching or anything like that either. This will be my first ever playthrough of this wad.

Map 01: Dropoff

The opener for Realm of Chaos is unsurprisingly very simple and easy. The style is understandably very old-school with plain looks and straightforward gameplay. Pretty unorthodox texture choices but the level isn't really ugly, just a bit dull looking. No area stands out visually in one way or another other than perhaps the nukage&bridges area which frankly I think is the ugliest part of the map. Gameplay-wise it's a standard shooting gallery with the shotgun as your main weapon. The opposition consist of mostly sarges and imps but they come in small packs so playing stupidly will probably get you killed. Some good trap design too, especially the red key ambush. Didn't like the silvery area too much, slows down the pace unnecessarily. Overall a pretty damn basic level but I suppose that's not a bad thing for map01 and it certainly serves it's purpose well enough. After the initial playthrough I had a few (or a few hundred) sorry attempts at speedrunning but Heretic's demo is too fast for me to challenge properly. The best I could do was 1:54.

Well, having been chewed up and spat out by Stardate and decided that MMP was not for me I'm back again for this oldschool adventure that I'd not heard about until Steve D started petitioning for it to be played in the club.

I'm playing the compiled version in PRBoom+ (Chocolate Doom didn't like the new graphic) on HMP and with continuous play. I'll try to avoid saving mid-map to add a little tension but I always end up breaking that rule as the maps get longer.

Before I get started I'll say I'm not at all fond of the graphic replacements - lovely new sky excluded. It seems for the most part unnecessary and plain ugly. I'd have much preferred new music rather than new graphics.

MAP01 - “Dropoff” by Rob Berkowitz

OK this wasn't a bad start at all. The view to the green armour was quite a nice touch and although it looks very basic it does the job. The first fight caused me a little trouble once the three surrounding walls opened leaving me prone to hitscan attacks from multiple angles. That dealt with, and having found the secret soulsphere, I was barely troubled thereafter.

It was actually a bit of a sleepwalk but that can be forgiven in MAP01 and I liked how the blur sphere was useful for a change. The incrementally raising catwalk was a nice idea, but wasted a bit with the pedestrian monsters used in it.

Aesthetically, the most complimentary I can be about it was that it was practical and not awful but I don't think some light variation and texture variation is too much to ask for - even back in 1996.

Layout was pretty uninspired being a case of just progressing in one direction then backing up to the start.

purist said:

(Chocolate Doom didn't like the new graphic)

Would -merge fix this? I've been playing with PRBoom+ though.

Possibly so but I was happy enough to use PRBoom+

02 - demo - I always liked this one: very neat compact base with some good opportunities for tyson style play. By the way, what's the point of PWADINFO lumps in the wad, some important data for Hellmaker?