Doomed: Doom WAD Reviews

Voodoo Guns (VG.WAD)

2012-03-03T00:05:00.003-06:00

VOODOO GUNS
(by Alexander “Eternal” S. aka “Deadall”)

Voodoo Guns is the most recent original release by Russia's favored son. It's a Doom II minisode in two parts for GL engines (GLBoom, GZDoom and, in the near future, Risen3D). Eternal has thrown together some never-was hybrid of American Western and steampunk, looking pretty creepy with all the gas-mask wearing portraits, not to mention the soundtrack from American McGee's Alice. There's no given story; I can only assume that the player's character is the sole survivor of some supernatural event. He wakes up on a still-moving train that arrives at a seemingly-deserted city. Exploration uncovers a sinister presence bent on your annihilation. You'll have to fight your way out or get put six feet under.

Eternal's done a lot of work to establish his world. Beyond the immaculate architecture and Boom trickery (most notably the ubiquitous swinging doors), there's a slew of textures and sprites gleaned from tons of sources, not to mention a host of creepy posters and art pieces, like otherwise ordinary portraits where the people are wearing gas masks, or diagrams of women filled with clockwork machinery. Brilliant commentary on the objectification of women or just steampunk fans wanting to bang a clock? There's also a significant number of weapon replacements, some with new behavior, like the plasma rifle / nail gun or the dual pistols. Others just get a kickin' rad new sprite, like the Voodoo Gun. You'll also find a few new enemies, primarily in the second map, which has a more frontier / American western theme.

Like some other Russian releases I've played from 2011, Voodoo Guns isn't your typical set of Doom maps. They're very atmospheric, completely lacking monsters until you hit a certain point in the map. With Dark City, the opening number, the build-up is very lengthy. You've got a lot of ground to cover before you set foot on the ground floor, which gives you plenty of time to drink in the sights, especially with that bird's eye view from the train station. Ghost Village is similar in its pacing, except you've already seen the big surprise, with most of its shocks reserved for the town's unearthly mines. In both cases, you're largely unmolested until you trigger an invasion of sorts.

Between the city and the town, I prefer the change that occurs in the former. After seeing the “dark citizens” wandering around, you venture into the only open building, to the northeast. There's a neat jump scare, quickly followed by the true moment of unease when you solve the puzzle and return to the main city. Things are a bit different. There is no explanation for the enormous, flashing spires jutting out of the ground, and I prefer it that way. Coupled with the molten cracks in the earth, it's quite unnerving, especially when hordes of demons rise up from the subways while imps and zombiemen filter in from all over.

Dark City is all about the contrast between the action outside the buildings versus the interiors. Several times you'll be forced to confront the armies of Hell in the city streets. You're typically exposed, but not without cover. Those giant spines are a boon when you're playing hide and seek with several archviles. The skyscrapers conversely are cramped affairs, with monsters lurking in every corner. You'll want to investigate, though. The buildings house all the decent weapons, not to mention the keys for progression. Just remember that Alexander's handle is Eternal, or you'll be stuck on the silver key bottleneck for the longest time.

When you've finally beaten the badasses and opened up the gate to the exit, be prepared for another shift in gameplay. Dark City's finale is a slow river crawl that resembles a shooter on rails; once you take that plunge, your movement becomes incredibly sluggish. Shoot fast; there are a few nasty surprises that may ruin you if you didn't grab the megasphere secret. In the end, you reach the city limits, where you see something very unnerving – another gunslinger, like you, until you hear that unearthly laughter. I'm curious as to what the significance is. Did this dark stranger bring doom to the city from where he came? Or was he a gunman like you until evil overtook him? Who knows?

As I mentioned earlier, Ghost Village's opening is a lot like Dark City. You'll be exploring for a bit, investigating the ghost town, until you grab the silver key through a feat of platforming. Suddenly the town becomes a lot more populated, mostly with voodoo gunmen like the one whose horse you rode in on. It's mostly building-clearing like the first map - you won't be fighting any hordes of Hellspawn. No; the memorable section of the map begins when you take the staircase down in the saloon's back room. You're treated to a creepy underground gauntlet starting with a pretty easy teleporter puzzle, some cramped tunnels, and my favorite moment, which actually shocked me, near the tail end. Sure, I was expecting something weird, but...wow.

Predictably, you emerge from underneath the church, one of the few buildings that remained unexplored. The action isn't very dangerous unless you're rash. The actual danger lies right outside, an ambush of voodoo gunmen and those eerie black phantoms that debuted right at the end of MAP01. Once you explore the final building, you'll unlock the boss fight. He may look like he's straight out of Doom 64, but he's not quite the same. Certainly a bit more dangerous if you try to take him out like the original. Regardless of how you handle him, his demise is your ticket out.

Both of these maps look impeccable, Dark City in particular. It's invited some comparison with Lainos's Doxylamine Moon, also from 2011. Both are urban masterpieces rich in atmosphere that emphasize exploration. Voodoo Guns stands apart with its more deliberate encounters and bizarre hodgepodge of fictional genres, not to mention its HD textures and, well, that whole descent to the city itself is absolutely wonderful. Eternal establishes a narrative through exploration and action that's tough to beat and left me creeped out most of the time. I would recommend VG if you're at all interested huge, gorgeous city-esque maps; exploration; the American western genre (nominally steampunk); and, uh, an unsettling atmosphere promoted by a carefully chosen soundtrack, among other things. Really, you should at least give it a look.

NOTE: VG.ZIP clocks in at around 135MB. I had some trouble getting the whole thing to download from the idgames mirrors, so make sure you get the whole package. Also, make sure you're running up to date builds of the select few engines that will run (mentioned in the .TXT).

OF CORSET'S BLACK, WHY WOULDN'T IT BE?

Heretic: Dark Deity's Bastion (BASTION.WAD)

2012-02-29T00:30:00.001-06:00

HERETIC:
DARK DEITY'S BASTION
(by “Vordakk” aka “Stormwalker”)

Doomworld forum superstar Vordakk felt so gracious as to supply Heretic fans with a followup to his Call of the Apostate episode, an E1M1 map replacement. Much like his previous work, Dark Deity's Bastion is pretty much Heretic+. There are scant few ZDoom features, mainly adding in the final bosses as well as some puzzle hints in slightly cryptic lyrics, but in practice this is basically Heretic minus limits. There is no included story in the .TXT, but by the title you can more or less intuit the action. Corvus is in some misbegotten citadel, the bastion of a dark deity. Whether he's actively hunting something or just hanging out on his endless trek back to his homeworld is left up to the player's imagination.

BASTION numbers around 400 monsters. It's a pretty big map, similar in scope to E3M7 of Call of the Apostate, except a bit less hectic. It's also more straightforward. You'll see every weapon (though the firemace is hidden in a secret) and see every enemy Heretic has to offer, usually in a big way. The big hook of the Bastion comes in the second half of the level, when you must navigate four different gauntlets, each “themed” after the riders of the apocalypse – Pestilence, Famine, War and Death. Each wing has a nominal puzzle-solving element to it, the solution hinted at by checking a prominent monument in the same locale.

One of my favorite differences between this and APOSTATE is the shift away from homogenous monster packs toward more vibrant selections from Heretic's palette. There are still a few hordes to beat back (mainly sabreclaws) but you're usually free from circle-strafing armies and holding back Disciples at choke points. One of the more troublesome encounters has nitrogolems in the rafters, several undead blocking the exit, saberclaws on the ground, and a healthy number of gargoyles running interference. The star attraction of the War gauntlet is about the closest this map gets to Heretic Revealed, pitting you between four maulotaurs and a seething mass of D'sparil's worst offerings. It's kind of tricky to get things going but with a little infighting you'll be solid.

The Bastion itself is pretty cool looking. It's pretty dark and moody, kind of like the E1 Heretic maps, but lacking the relatively upbeat soundtracks. Instead, Vordakk's pulled two atmospheric pieces from Eternal Doom that help to paint an ominous portent of things to come. You'll see enormous castle walls and some gallows to begin with but the central circular structure dominates the level. It's one of the first things you see, and perhaps the last as well, a nice touch. Also driving home the E1 similarities is what I can only assume is an homage to the ethereal crossbow's location in E1M1. That's pretty much it, though. The rest of the map, especially the gauntlets, depart from the opening themes.

Really, the gauntlets are my favorite part of the map. Each one has a texture theme and challenge that is in some way representative of its horseman. The Famine wing is desolate and fiery and has what I believe to be the cleverest puzzle, which involves at one point an infinitesimally thin player. The Pestilence wing is filled with exploding gas balls and noxious toxins which you must rise over. The gauntlet of War is flooded with blood and requires, well, that should be pretty obvious. The Death wing is actually the central room in the beginning area. After you knock out the four liches you must contend with the riders themselves. Sure, four at a time might seem imposing, but if you follow the riddle to the letter you should be fine (as long as you don't get zapped).

It's nice to get a good chance to dust Corvus off and gallivant around the planes. I hope Vordakk continues to make more Heretic+ maps because these have been pretty fun to play, and if Dark Deity's Bastion is any indication, he's only improving as an author. If you like Heretic, I'd give this map a play, especially if you enjoyed his Call of the Apostate. It's tough without being ridiculous and has a nice glut of memorable moments.

THE DARK DEITY DANCES
WITH THE BLACK SPIRITS

Star Wars: Chibi Rebellion (CR_59.7Z)

2012-02-25T00:09:00.002-06:00

Apparently this little work began as LilWhiteMouse's first ZDoom project. Considering the version of Chosen I reviewed is circa 2003, that makes Chibi Rebellion's foundation quite old indeed. It saw several phases of development, with the most recent leading to a 5.0 idgames release. And yet, it moves... This article covers the 5.9 release of Star Wars: Chibi Rebellion. Yeah, some stuff's been added since. CR was released to little fanfare, which is a shame. This is a quality game on the level of some of Doom's most ambitious total conversions. Though it may lack the polish of works like Action Doom II, it's worth a play. It'll be a long one, and my only hope is that LWM continues to preen this product.

The star of Chibi Rebellion is the spunky Jaiyl, an engineer and resident of the planet Nothoth, where the campaign takes place. She's a redhead, but unlike EU superstar Mara Jade, she's got no Force, and thank goodness; there are plenty of Jedi hanging around as is. When occupying Nothoth, the Empire wrecked her repair shop, so she's out for revenge. First order of business – join the Rebellion. Second order of business – defeat scores of wildlife, imperials, smugglers, jawas and droids in her quest to stick it to the jerks that totaled her business. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. No, really; I can count the times you're explicitly aided by the Rebel Alliance on one hand. You'll be getting way more health and ammo from the better-funded Imperial army, not to mention their very compelling recruitment posters.

So, yeah. It's Star Wars. More than that, it's super-deformed Star Wars. LWM compares it to a cross between Yoda Stories and Lego Star Wars. I haven't played either game, but I'm familiar with the concepts. I know there's a generally jovial tone that pervades both, which definitely carries through CR, down to the enemy death – er, I'm sorry, KO – animations. Most opponents vanish, leaving a bouncing helmet that fades away. Others, like wampas, leave a single flopping arm, and the rodians explode into two wiggling antennae. It's adorable when they're not firing at you. You'll see plenty of references to characters, though not being the biggest buff I bet some of the cameos were lost on me. One thing that's a little off-putting... I really could have used as little as some throw-away dialogue for most of the chibi NPCs, especially at the base. The gawking Rebels kind of weird me out. Admittedly, this is a ton of busy work that most people would likely skip over.

Chibi Rebellion has a very simple formula. Small, modular maps are plugged into a rigid scenario skeleton at random when you begin your mission. When I say the scenario skeleton is rigid, I mean it. Hit “P” during play to access the scenario map and you'll see. Each slot in the map draws from a pool of levels dedicated to that position. CR is structured in such a way that it exhausts all unplayed maps before repeating any element. In practicality, there is enough material for nine complete episodes of novel gameplay. There are a few leftover “end” missions so you'll have to replay a bit of old content if you want to see everything 5.9 has to offer.

Though some of these areas are pretty simple, there's actually a ton of maps featuring clever puzzles, like tower of Hanoi mechanics or one involving gas pressure that may take a second or two to reason out. Others present the player with unique exploration experiences, like a series of tunnels with constant cave-ins, using tauntauns for greater mobility, or exploring the exterior of a station in the middle of a blizzard. Throw in combat scenarios with imperial machinery, vendetta-packing bounty-hunters, and force-sensitive jawas (to name a few) and you'll find plenty to liven up what can sometimes be fairly rote room clearing, not that your regular opponents don't have plenty of unique attributes.

Jaiyl has quite an arsenal at her disposal. Her cutter can booby-trap machinery (including droids) and can do plenty of damage when fully charged. The blaster pistols are decent, but my go-to weapon was the blaster rifle. Don't leave home without it, except for that first time when you don't have one. The flash cannon is the SSG of CR, great for skirmishing with tough opponents. The repeater is more suited to taking down the ATs, otherwise impractical vs. packs of enemies that are easily handled with the combat rifle. The Dawnsorrow is indispensable for taking out most enemies at long range. Together, LilWhiteMouse excels at establishing a niche for every weapon you'll be using, including the thermal detonator, which is often unwieldy but potent once you get the hang of throwing it.

CR has shops and two main forms of currency. There's a whole host of disposable items available via credits, which either drop direct from humanoids or can be earned by selling junk dropped and found. Most of your upgrades, however, come from Holocrons, which you use to build “ultimate” versions of several weapons, upgrade technology for preexisting equipment, and some otherwise unavailable armaments (most notably the sniper rifle). All of the cool one-time credit purchases are available as rewards (or secrets) later on, though the utility belt is probably worth an early purchase.

The difficulty in Chibi Rebellion's combat comes from two sources. The first is simply being outgunned, which quickly fades away as you play further into the game. A few early maps may prove pretty difficult, though, especially if you're just getting used to the gameplay. The second is Jaiyl's frailty and speed, both of which may provide challenge for players used to Doomguy's lightning speed and proliferation of health and armor pickups. CR doens't leave them laying around for you to walk over; you'll have to buy your resources. Or, just do what I did, and raid cubyholes in bases / smash all the boxes. Eventually you'll get used to Jaiyl's physical attributes and stop soaking up damage like a pile of bantha poodoo. It's really not that hard.

What I find most endearing in Chibi Rebellion are the little things, like its ubiquitous cheeriness, the unique elements of each scenario, and the jokes and references you can find everywhere, like in the Chibi Death Star. A lot of the physical comedy that plays out in the animations is just as important, be it the bouncing helmets (or other), the flying rebel troopers plucked from their tauntauns, or the speeder bikes gone wild. You'll also find encounters while trudging back through scenario branches, where some thought has gone into setting them up, like one point where I returned to see jawas salvaging an AT-AT I'd previously dispatched. A lot of care has gone in to making this Rebellion as Chibi as possible, and I appreciate that. There's also the final map, a great level where access can only be secured by filling out the Chibi Base hangar, which are found randomly in secrets in the maps.

Like some of the other works released in 2011, Chibi Rebellion isn't much like Doom, carrying very niche appeal. The actual action of the maps can get samey at times when not broken up by gags and puzzles and the limited palette of environments can wear thin if you're marathoning the whole shebang. It's a phenomenal game, though. I would recommend CR to anyone looking for a new experience using the ZDoom engine that doesn't mind the lighter side of gaming. I'd say it's a must for Star Wars fans. Also, it's 100% Jar-Jar free! What more could you ask for? Well, I'd like to see more maps to flesh out the final few episodes, but wouldn't we all. Download Chibi Rebellion today and may the Schwartz be with you.

NOTE: Chibi Rebellion has a ton of short maps. I'll still be reviewing them all with screenshots, but I've opted to organize them by category as LilWhiteMouse has and initially hide the sections to facilitate easier browsing.

STAR WARS:
CHIBI REBELLION
(by "LilWhiteMouse")

BEGINNING MAPS

MAP05 Home: Small map with Jaiyl's house. It's got some handy starting supplies, like the grenade belt and the personal shield generator. The different versions of her home don't vary much, but they're a nice way to get the player's feet wet.

MAP06 Home: Mostly the same as MAP05, but there's no (official) secret.

MAP07 Home: Biggest difference is a large blue crate outside which has some extra pistol ammo.

MAP08 Detention Center: This is a tough little map that references (of course) the Death Star Detention Block. You start out with all your gear missing. After you bust out of your cell you have to dodge fire from the invincible central guard while ducking in between alcoves, trying to find a way to take care of her. It's an intense little map.

MAP09 Cantina: Opens up with an amusing reference to one of the most hotly contested issues in Star Wars and then turns into a bar fight, spilling out into a small locale that feels appropriately like Mos Eisley on ice.

MAP12 Leia: Reference to the award ceremony from A New Hope, except you get a shield regenerator instead of a medal. Try not to get creeped out by the staring crowds of Rebels. Haven't they seen a redhead before?

MAP14 Rebel Defense Point: Some guys are having trouble with their speeder bike, but when you go to check it out, you have to face several waves of Imperial soldiers before it's safe enough to repair the system. The first time I played this, it seemed to go on forever. The second didn't feel nearly as bad.

MAP16 Bike Rescue: There isn't a whole lot of context given for this mission, so I'm guessing that Jaiyl's speeder bike was stolen by scum, and she's elected to set it free. Basically a hunt for power generators with a few roughnecks showing up to hassle you.

SPECIAL MAPS

MAP10 Giant Wampa: Accessible in the back of the base via the Wampa Bonus, this pits you against a giant wampa in a cavernous outdoor area. The wampa has some friends but his only attack involves grabbing rebels off their tauntauns and throwing them at you. You'll need to shoot down giant icicles to kill him, which can be easy or hard depending on where he decides to wander. Your reward, if you choose to accept it, is a bacta tank.

MAP11 Chibi Base: A small version of the Rebel Base on Hoth, down to the huge doors and shield generator. The hangar looks empty at first, but you'll fill it up with ZDoom cameos. Handy features include a medical droid (very good!) and a shield recharger (sadly limited). There's also a shop with an assembly table. I actually think that Leia just shrieks missions at the first person to walk into the command room.

MAP15 Black Market Jawa: Only available with the Jawa bonus, I believe. The black market jawa sits outside the snowcrawler and peddles otherwise unavailable items for credits. Most of this you can just find elsewhere, but it's nice to have the option to buy it direct (including Holocrons for the impatient). Even if you don't need this stuff, make sure you visit to bust open any crates.

FIRST BRANCH MAPS

MAP20 Forest Canyon: Pretty straightforward map; it's a canyon filled with trees that forks in two directions to the north.

MAP21 Wampa Crator: Pretty complex layout that kind of confused me at first with several caves and tiers to explore. The wampas are tough, but there are plenty of grenades lying around if you lack the ammo. And if you run out, bust out the fusion cutter!

MAP22 Snow Jawa Crawler: Dominated by one of those snow crawlers. One of the exits must be reached by entering the crawler itself and raising a lift on the opposite side. The crawler interior is tight but works pretty well.

MAP23 Outpost: Just a small Imperial outpost guarded by forcefields and housing an AT-ST dock. Getting past the outer wall requires about a second of lateral thinking, after which it's standard room clearing.

MAP24 TIE Refueling Pad: Some very large fuel tanks and a couple of landing pads for the TIE fighters. The highlight is the fuel puzzle, which must be solved in order to access the upper tier. You use the first screen to dictate which tank fuel is coming from and use the second to determine where the fuel is going to. Each tank has a different fuel capacity, and all must be below safety levels before you can proceed.

MAP25 Spaceport: Cameos here from Han and Chewie in a map that evokes the largest deleted scene from A New Hope. It's a pretty dense map as you have to clear the area of scum, then board the Falcon for repairs after securing replacement parts. Be careful when you're done as Han takes off when you exit (the secret is inside the ship!).

MAP26 TIE Maintenance Hanger: This level's highlight is the multi-tiered hanger in the map's center which has an elevatory platform (and a cool TIE fighter in disrepair, staged with multiple sprites, each with its own rotation angles). As such, the main challenge is the rudimentary elevator puzzle, which may trip people up if they jump to the bottom at any point. One big snag – if you hit the canyon exit before opening the hangar doors, you'll be stuck when you return.

MAP27 Impound: This is a fairly large map featuring an Imperial base with several impounded vehicles as well as a detention center. The main story concerns a set of Rebel twins, Tia and Ghia, who need your help to bust out of the prison, culminating in a hanger fight with an AT-ST.

MAP28 Scumm Town: Another dense level. It's a city type like the Cantina, but with more points of interest, including a used speeder dealership, a bar, and a repair shop. The main puzzle is a series of short quests that lead up to the elimination of a recent cave-in. Very cool (and humorous) outing.

FIRST LINK MAPS

MAP30 Supply Depot: Large map that's mostly an Imperial warehouse. Nothing special but ends in a fight with the Imperial loader, one of the specially-scripted boss battles. The loader is impervious to all weapons fire...but those crates it chucks at you aren't. The battle area is nice and clear; my first actual encounter with the loader wasn't nearly as straightforward. Still, it's a neat fight.

MAP31 Outpost: Another fairly unremarkable Imperial outpost. There are a ton of goodies laying around, though, including a freebie utility belt squirreled away in a secret. Also the location of one of a few Imperial dealers.

MAP32 Defense Turret: This is a long canyon walk that ends at an Imperial barricade, fronted with two defense turrets. The inclusion of the speeder wreck gives it a very organic quality.

MAP33 A-Wing Crash: Short canyon map whose sole defining feature is a wrecked A-Wing, though the construction of the area and the ravine that crosses it is pretty nice.

MAP34 AT-AT Hanger: Another imperial stronghold with some neat features like what appears to be some kind of ready room and most importantly two huge AT-ATs constructed with map geometry. The effect is pretty neat, though careful observers will note the software renderer's limitation around the cockpits. Still, a really cool effect.

MAP35 Base Ruins: A dessicated Rebel base flush with mynocks. There's also a really spooky cave you'll have to visit in order to return to the preceding branch segment. The instrument of its fate is never really explained within this map but if it's anything like one of the final scenarios, you can assume a similar reason given the similar circumstances.

MAP36 Dark Cave: This map's main feature is a pitch black cave that can only be navigated by obtaining a glow rod from elsewhere in the level. Investigating the cave is a unique experience as the sectors light up in neon green as you proceed. There's a dangerous bit near the end; hopefully you're savvy enough to avoid death (or at least entrapment with no chance of escape). Very unique.

MAP37 Tiabana Gas Refinery: Another short depot-style level, this one built around a gas refinery. The exit is blocked by purging flames; you'll need to infiltrate the compound, doing combat with a fairly harmless burning column, before you can make the exit more accessible.

MAP38 TIE Munitions Dump: Very short factory-style level. Most of the action revolves around the main chamber and an Imperial Loader. It's a tricky fight given how cramped the area is but it's strictly optional.

BLUE KEY MAPS

MAP40 Comm Station: Standard Imperial outpost, except there's an exposed power core for some eye candy and a cute switch puzzle guarding the blue key. You can either brute force it or look elsewhere for the solution. Nice layout.

MAP41 Ion Cannon Control Station: This more unique scenario occurs in a Rebel facility attatched to an Ion Cannon. On entering the map, you're alerted that Imperial Troops have entered the base. You'll have to wipe out the aggressors before the survivors allow you in to the protected area.

MAP42 TIE Fighter Hanger: This is a “shuttle” map, where part of the level takes place in a different area accessed by an Imperial shuttle. The Hanger has a pretty cool layout and the bay door is cool to watch open. The shuttle takes you to a tiny orbital outpost with some neat elevators and details like TIE fighters zooming around in the background.

MAP43 Space Bar: Well, not really in space, but I assume when your mode of travel is interstellar, pretty much everything exists “in space”. It's got a nice design that reminds me of Space Quest III's Monolith Burger with the docking areas and a small standing bar. The goal, bringing down the shield surrounding the Imperial shuttle, is quite simple.

MAP44 Smuggler Outpost: Large, fairly involved map chock full of scum. The wrinkle is that the front door is locked by the blue key...which is inside the base! You'll have to break in by bringing down the hanger doors, which may involve some snooping around.

MAP45 Armory: This is a heavily-defended Imperial outpost whose major feature is, you guessed it, an armory loaded with tons of goodies. It's not strictly that difficult to get into but the turrets at the gate make it one of the better-guarded outposts in the game.

MAP46 Jawa Shamaness: This is another map featuring the crawler, but it's functionally just a giant obstacle to control map movement. The true highlight is a fight with the spunky force-sensitive jawa in the outer debris yard. Taking her down is a bit more straightforward when she's actually toting a health bar. Otherwise, you might wonder if you're actually having any effect.

MAP47 TIE Command Center: Small Imperial base with a nice symmetric layout for landing pads. Those TIE bombers that keep buzzing you have to come from somewhere, I guess. The big feature is a really simple weight-based puzzle. Even if you're incapable of ruling out potential wrong answers via name, you should be able to brute force it. If not, I don't know what to say. Except, you're dumb.

MAP48 Gas Research Lab: This is a pretty tricky outing. First things first, you have to contend with the central chamber, which is puzzlingly choked with gas through an interlock system. You'll have to find the exit switch quick and grab the gas mask in the next room, which allows you to safely tackle the boss fight. It's the gas-burning column from MAP37, except you have nowhere to run, so you'll have to be careful trying to destroy it, especially if you're using grenades.

SECOND BRANCH MAPS

MAP50 Checkpoint: Yet another Imperial outpost in the Nothoth wilderness. The only rezyyal surprise is an AT-ST in the courtyard. Though I do like how out of the way the secret is.

MAP51 TIE Crash Site: The Imperial analogue to the A-Wing crash. It's got a similar layout, except here, the central butte is integral to navigating the points of egress. You start out fairly exposed but it's easy to find adequate cover.

MAP52 Snow Speeder Hanger: Same idea as MAP41, with Imperials attacking a Rebel base, except this time it's a hanger. This is a nice breather map after the fighting as there's a med droid and shield node in the building proper. You also get a nice look at all the Rebels in hiding you saved.

MAP53 TIE Interceptor Hanger: This is a large, forked canyon with an Imperial hanger built into the mountainside. Pretty rudimentary, but I like the look of the runway, and Nothoth's wilderness is always appreciated.

MAP54 Ice Pack: Now here's a neat concept. It's a frozen lake or something, so most of the ground is low friction ice, except a few snowy islands which are invaluable when fighting the Taun-Tauns. One of the exits can be reached off the bat. The other requires a trudge through a mynock infested cave in order to find some ice cleats, which will let you walk up the icy slope that leads to the other way out.

MAP55 Battlefield: This is a full on war between a Rebel base and an AT-ST, AT-AT, and bunch of Imperial troops. They'll keep pouring in until you dispatch the big guns. Thankfully, there's a shield recharger near the compound in case you soak up too much damage. Pretty cool fight.

MAP56 Taun-Taun Pen: Another rocky wilderness map that requires you to clear some Imperials before the main event. It might be a bit of a pain unless you're packing the Dawnsorrow, what with the guys on top of the buttes. Afterward you have to use Taun-Tauns in the pen to jump to the map's two exits, requiring some ledge leaping. Taun-Tauns can't jump that much higher than Jaiyl, but they can get on top of those boulders, which is enough.

MAP57 Cargo Train: This map consists of the train itself and three separate stations. After you clear the beginning area you can board the train and enable the ability to stop at the other two via an uncomplicated switch scheme. I liked the train effect, a nice refreshing graphical feature.

MAP58 Hydroponics: Fairly standard room clearing in a rarely explored environment, the Hydroponic greenhouses of Nothoth. The main hang-up is in navigation between the four tiers of buildings, made slightly complicated by the switches that control the positioning of the stairs, a neat feature.

BLUE GATE MAPS

MAP60 Settlement: Another town-style map in the vein of Scumm Town or Cantina. You need the keycard to get in; from then on progression is a little weird. You're clearly intended to leap across a series of awnings in order to reach the exit, but the hangar which grants access to the upper tier is initially occupied. I solved this “puzzle” purely by accident my first time playing, not realizing that a triggered event was crucial to the solution.

MAP61 Security Inspection: Just a short bump in the road. This canyon has a small Imperial blockade that's pretty straightforward to circumvent.

MAP62 Pit: Elevator repair time! You'll get to put your fusion cutter to good use as you gradually restore functionality to the power lift. Very short map.

MAP63 Gate Station: Functionally the same thing as Security Inspection, except it's a bit better guarded. It's also a different map, organically, as MAP61 was built in a tunnel where in 63 the frame surrounding the gate is artificially constructed.

MAP64 Sentry Turret: Basically the past three maps combined. There's an open area approach to a moderately-defended Imperial gate that requires repair to the controls before you can take the elevator in the little waystation to the upper tier.

MAP65 AT-AT Derelict: This time the gate is the hulking wreck of an AT-AT, sprawled across a vast, shallow Nothoth canyon. It's a pretty cool sight, though the combat isn't that interesting.

MAP66 Smuggler Cache: This is a scum-themed hideout built into a tiny cave. You need to use their elevator to get to the upper level, but the controls on your side are busted, so you'll have to trek through their cache / warehouse and navigate a crate, er, pillar puzzle with some liberal pushing / pulling.

MAP67 Thermal Energy Plant: Well, it's a geothermal energy plant! Both sources of power are offline, though, restricting elevator access. Turning on secondary power activates the big ass fan in the facility's west side (it's pretty cool, check it out before you flip the switch). The powerful updraft lets you check out the facility air ducts, one of which leads to the primary power switch, and thus the exit. Some nice effects in here.

MAP68 Crystal Mine: Now here's a unique setting. The exterior is another Imperial base, but there's an elevator leading to some kind of crystal mine. You need to investigate the mine and collect all the crystals in order to deactivate the forcefield guarding the shuttle navigation card, taking you to an unrelated landing site that houses the exit.

RED KEY MAPS

MAP70 Power Sub Station: This is a pretty large Imperial fortification with a few nice puzzles on your way to the red key. The first is a very simple flip puzzle, especially since you're only dealing with a single row of states to reverse. The other is pure timing as you leap through momentarily deactivated forcefields (provided you made sure to mess with their associated conduits!).

MAP71 AT-AT Dock: A fairly secure AT-AT dock in the middle of nowhere. It's a quick play, with the only wrinkle requiring you to hit the lower level to wreck the generators powering the force field. The AT-AT is an impressive construction and the map's boundaries do a good job of concealing ZDoom's rendering limitations, reinforcing the magic.

MAP72 Data Storage Facility: Basically another medium-size Imperial base. There are a number of constructs that resemble data banks of some kind but the major defining feature is the huge central core, which houses the red key. Getting to it is pretty straightforward. This is also one of the few maps with two secrets, though I guess one of them depends on players being pretty superficial.

MAP73 Cargo Transfer Station: This is a fairly large Imperial warehouse complete with several ships, including a shuttle made out of map geometry. The red key is pretty easy to get to as long as you remember you have the ability to jump.

MAP74 Smuggler Encampment: This dense map includes a smuggler settlement with several buildings, one of which is explorable, and a traversable snowcrawler. The smugglers are quite entrenched and you may find them sneaking up on you as you hunt for the red key. You may have to fight some reinforcements once you've found it.

MAP75 Warehouse: Another Imperial warehouse, but with a few notable features like the sloped travelway to the east and for encounters an Imperial Loader boss fight. Also, it's got more of those cool red-ringed doors.

MAP76 Blizzard: Very unique outing where you flounder your way to a Rebel outpost where a guy hands you a locator. The item in question displays the location of six sites of interest in relation to your location. In conjunction with the viewfinder, you traverse the snowstorm, taking care to look out for hostiles (and cameos).

MAP77 Air Defense Tracking Station: This base, housing an Ion Cannon, is under Imperial control. Also, it just shot down the Raven's Claw, and Kyle wants you to take out the cannon so that he can fly away once repairs are made. It's a pretty straightforward base clear, even with the final puzzle, where the blast doors shielding the generators are controlled by separate timed switches. It would be more problematic if the switches for each generator's door shut the other's.

MAP78 Storm Trooper Training Facility: The highlight of this map is a pretty cool gag where you have to go through an Imperial shooting gallery, shooting at chibi cutouts of Star Wars characters. Of course, to gain access to the oversight base, you have to score pretty well. Shoot too many Imperials and you'll be directed to report for discipline... Very neat.

SECOND LINK MAPS

MAP80 Canyon: This is one long gauntlet with the stages sectioned off by canyon-spanning ice walls that crumble when you destroy the incumbent Imperials. Expect to fight a few AT-STs on your way to the exit.

MAP81 Wampa Cave: This is a spooky, wampa-infested cavern that's quite unstable. A series of cave-ins will corral you toward the map's exit. None of them are lethal, but they could leave some players quite frustrated to find their exploration thwarted by falling rocks at every turn.

MAP82 Checkpoint: Just a forcefield wall blocking off a canyon. It's attached to two generators. Neither are that difficult to find, though the ice cavern housing the less obvious one looks kind of cool.

MAP83 Forest Gate: One of the more complex fights, this takes place in front of a massive Imperial gate staged in a forest. There are several large packs of soldiers on either side, a few minefields, and an AT-AT galumphing about. As you can imagine, you're in quite a predicament; situational awareness is paramount, especially as you chip away at the Imperial death machine. You can have some fun with the mine fields, though they don't seem to do too terribly much damage.

MAP84 AT-ST Docks: Kind of like the AT-AT dock, this is an AT-ST dock smack in the middle of a canyon dead-end. You don't have to fight that many walkers, actually. Just watch out for booby-traps on the more or less straightforward path to the exit.

MAP85 AT-AT Ambush: Another unique scenario which nonetheless proves my theory that the rebels are lazy little shits. There's an AT-AT stomping around (and some other stuff) and a rebel holed up in a little cave. He wants you to bring the natural arch in the canyon down on the AT-AT, but you have to find the two explosives and the detonator scattered around the area (on other rebels that undoubtedly tried to do his dirty work). The end effect is pretty cool.

MAP86 Jawa Enclave: This may be one of the biggest bottlenecks in your play experience. It's a fortified Jawa city; you have to blow up a generator in order to get inside. It's definitely not impossible, it just requires some problem-solving you may rarely be used to exercising. Once you're inside you'll have to deal with the force-sensitive Jawa shamaness and eventually a trash compactor with...is that another Lucasarts cameo I see? Nice little map.

MAP87 Mercenary Base: Lethal Alliance? What's that? Rianna and Zeeo are working for the rebels to download some info from the mercenary computer banks but they need you to help clear scum out for them. Most of it's generic room clearing but there's a very simple Tower of Hanoi puzzle when you hit the data core. It took me a minute to catch on but it should be no trouble for veterans of the Island of Dr. Brain (or, uh, Ass Effect from what I hear).

MAP88 Minefield: This is a fun little diversion. The rebels laid down a minefield but the controls are borked so they need to find a way to shut it down. There's a not too subtle hint that the little white snow mice nearby are the solution. When their work is done, you can blow away the incompetent rebel handiwork at your leisure.

RED GATE MAPS

MAP90 Bridge: Here's something we haven't seen much of. Bridges over canyons! There's a really neat effect with the bridge posts here, achieved by the use of sprites to simulate short, round columns. It doesn't exactly hold up at close range, but whatever. There's some amusing dialogue in the Imperial base proper, but nothing that exciting.

MAP91 Lift Bridge: Another bridge, funnily enough, except this one starts on the canyon floor. It's basically MAP62 (Pit) on a much larger scale; the bridge won't fully rise when you hit the switch, though it will raise high enough to access the machinery you need to repair.

MAP92 Landing Platform: A visually impressive platform made out of midtextures. It's actually a shuttle map; you'll need to grab the navigation card from elsewhere before ascending the stairs. You're dropped off at a similar but less well defended location.

MAP93 Sub-Command Post: This is a heavily-fortified Imperial base whose major defining feature is a neat underground tunnel that leads to the outer rim, where the switch to shut down the forcefield is located. It's pretty dangerous above and below, particularly if you're not watching out for hallway bombs...

MAP94 Droid Factory: Was anyone else bothered by the fact that you're crashing a factory producing medical droids? Whatever. It's loaded with machinery and has some nice use of three-dimensional space near the end. Also, due to its aforementioned product, it's pretty hard to get killed without falling asleep at the keyboard.

MAP95 Frozen Camp: Ostensibly this is a settlement rendered derelict by a bout of super-freezing weather. Currently, a group of scum is picking it over. The “hook” lies in finding a portable heater to melt a wall of ice.

MAP96 Corellion CR-90: Here's another unique scenario. The Corellion frigate is under assault by Imperial forces while it lays in disrepair with rebels holed up inside. Ever the intrepid engineer, you have to fix its issues both inside and out, then dispatch the Imperials outside to assist in a safe takeoff.

MAP97 Freighter Wreckage: Pretty straightforward. There's a crashed freighter and a bunch of scum picking over the remnants. The red key shuts the forcefield down.

MAP98 Ice Cave: This is another Taun-Taun jumping map, though it's pretty much all platforming as opposed to MAP56. You have to jump through a pretty dense cavern filled with pillars and ice. It's pretty easy to get through unless you grew up with two left thumbs.

FINAL SCENARIO MAPS

MAP100 Secret Landing Pad: This map concludes the “rescue” scenario. It starts out at the shuttle landing pad and quickly moves to the orbital prison where the Imperials hold your target. You've got to find a security ID card before you can shut down the stations that lock the prison block. Watch out for one particular cameo!

MAP101 Shuttle Hanger: Your target here is a new Imperial officer who's been sent to Nothoth to whip the floundering Troopers into shape. It's basically another Imperial warehouse complete with a column-moving segment. There's a memorable boss segment though, vs. two Imperial Royal Guards. They get some juking abilities and that super-powered lightning attack that can be devastating at close range.

MAP102 Power Plant: One of a great many final missions involving sabotage. You don't have to find the charges, but you do have to find all the spots where to set them (that's rarely difficult). The power plant has a neat layout, particularly the main room with the huge core and all the cables. This particular one actually requires you to escape before the charges detonate, giving you an avenue of escape that you must nonetheless clear of enemy detritus.

MAP103 Light Weapons Facility: Another map involving a ton of Boom. This one's producing light blasters. Some of the machinery in the latter portion of the level stands out in my mind, particularly the giant press and the tanks of unknown purpose.

MAP104 Survielance Station: Sure, it's another mission involving sabotage, but it's got some neat features. You start out in an outdoor area with no visible means of accessing the station proper. You've got to clear the troopers out and secure an ID card to get into a shed with underground access. There's a cool bit with an electrified tunnel that requires you to be quick or be dead, and the rest of the base has some nice details like the reactor room, the whole thing being stuffed with data banks.

MAP105 AT-ST Assembly Yard: Another Imperial factory to decimate. This one's constructing AT-STs and has quite the assembly line going if you bother to stand still long enough to watch. The biggest challenge has you darting through a crusher on the conveyer belt while scrap metal clutters your way, though you do run quite a crossfire running around in the actual building.

MAP106 Lambda Class Shuttle: Pretty short approach to a shuttle that takes you to the meeting ground where the Imperials meet with the Mercenaries. The enemy agent may or may not be familiar to you, depending on how the final missions have played out...

MAP107 AT-AT Assault: Pretty short defense-style map. There's a ton of Imperials, including the AT-AT, but you just need to take everything else out so that the snow speeders can do their business. Part of this is aided along by the defense turrets you can bring back online which should do a fair bit of damage.

MAP108 Landing Platform: Here's a unique scenario! You're supposed to infiltrate an Imperial Star Destroyer and escape with a turncoat. You start out at the landing platform with the shuttle in dock, then grab a Stormtrooper uniform. Once you get on board, it begins somewhat of a stealth section, where you must avoid bumping into Imperial Officers on your way to the bridge. If you're playing with the HUD, the obnoxious helmet blocks most of your vision. When you find your mark, you'll have to fight your way back to the exit. Pretty neat mission.

MAP109 Abandoned Spaceport: A spaceport being used by scum. More importantly, it's where Jaiyl's rival, the Twi'lek Mydia is located. She's a pistol that compulsively dodges and sprays blaster fire in your general direction. There's some neat usage of room-over-room in the hallways underneath the control tower.

MAP110 Base: A derelict Rebel base you're investigating for the cause of destruction. It's pretty creepy with most of the story dictated as you step on the Rebel bonus tokens that mark points of interest. There's not a lot of combat to be had and just a shade of puzzle-solving. The boss is some kind of Imperial super trooper, some uber-jerk that shoots homing rockets and leaps all over the place.

MAP111 Sentinel Shuttle: Very cool map. Starts out with you jumping inside an Imperial shuttle, sneaking into the Chibi Death Star, and then causing all sorts of mayhem as you deposit charges all over the place. There are several great gags to be found, like the superlaser or the hangar full of Imperial soldiers. All this and a boss fight involving two Royal Guards help to liven up what would otherwise be a rote mission of sabotage.

THE BIG FINISH

MAP120 Nothoth Plains: The largest and most complex map of the TC, this is an actual assault in several parts attempting to take control of an Imperial Ion Cannon so that you can take down the Star Destroyer Kawai. You get to help out by performing essential attacks which help the Rebels stem the tide of Imperials and eventually muster enough force to eliminate them entirely. There are two different compounds you'll have to fight through and several layers of forcefields to penetrate and pretty much every soldier of the Empire you've fought reappears. It's an excellent scenario, and a great topper.

STAR WARS: CHIBI FORCES
THE SEARCH FOR MORE FUNNY

Doom Vacation (VACAV14.WAD)

2012-02-22T00:05:00.002-06:00

Duke Caribbean is the fondest-remembered of the licensed Duke 3D addons. Duke it Out in D.C. had some great maps, but generally lacked the funny. Nuclear Winter was just awful. Caribbean was colorful; had new sprites for all the weapons, collectibles, and monsters; and plain just had interesting and varied level design. Joseph “DoorHenge” Otey decided to bring the magic to Doom (as DooM Vacation) using the ZDoom engine as his canvas. The story is pretty token; essentially Doomguy lands in the ocean after killing another boss brain, only to end up at an island resort chock full of evil.

The first three levels of Duke Caribbean are stunningly recreated here, along with the secret. Many of the pickup sprites return, though they've been used to fit different purposes. The Conchonator, for instance, became the SSG replacement (with an appropriately annoying blow). While the level layouts are exactly the same, Otey's taken some...liberties. The big surprises happen in the first level, where you'll see a few changes to the wandering beach babes (sunburned and, ahem, redheads, 5/5) as well as some anomalous situations in the hotel rooms. The seagulls are back and basically an annoyance. They replace the lost soul, which makes pain elementals uniquely humorous. You'll also notice the bright blue palette reflected in some of the enemies, notably the arachnotron and cacodemon.

At times, I get the impression that this conversion was a bit hasty. The secret level is boring to play, for the most part, and the final fight at the water park is ridiculous, considering your supplies vs. the actual threat. And, while I admire its overall fidelity to the originals, I still find myself wishing Otey had taken more artistic liberties. Not like the trashy humor insertions of MAP01, but any new added stuff to the layouts. I also would have liked to see the whole pack remade, but I suppose he had his reason for stopping there. Maybe recreating the latter works in ZDoom was too demanding.

If you haven't played Caribbean before, the style of puzzle solving is a little more complicated than Doom's, favoring switch hunts and exploration, with the results of your work often less than obvious. Having played the stuffing out of it before, I can't say I got stuck much anywhere, though some of the fighting is obviously quite different. People that favor traditional Doom maps may get stuck quite easily with the amount of jumping, crawling, and swimming you have to do in order to complete the maps, not to mention the plentiful number of secrets stashed around the place.

I would recommend DooM Vacation if you remember Caribbean fondly, or just want to play on the lighter side of Doom WADs for a little while. You know, when you're not doing -FAST runs of Deus Vult II to prepare for Huy Pham's second edition. If you hate Duke or confusing level design, or just don't like to have a good laugh or two, steer clear. It's an amusing project; I just feel that so much more could have been done, especially after playing something like Return of the Triad. Just, uh, watch out for those bikini babes or you'll find yourself crowd surfing.

DOOM VACATION
(converted by Joseph "Doorhenge" Otey)

MAP01 Caribbean Catastrophe: Approximation of a Caribbean hotel, complete with beachfront, lobby, souvenir shop, hotel rooms, and dance club / karaoke bar. Funnily enough, Otey made this map dirtier than the original, what with several of the babe replacements (and the Scarface room). It plays kind of similar but more and less dangerous in certain spots. The sunburned Cyberdemon is a great laugh but actually killing him is another story. Also, waaaay too many girls in the dance club. At least in ZDoom you can get on top of them to get past. The card puzzles are a bit obtuse but the shooting gallery one has actually been dumbed down.

MAP02 Market Melee: I dunno how Doomguy ended up in jail, but the trickery done to approximate Build effects in this level (like the crashing bus) is pretty good, not to mention the various exploding walls. It's a Caribbean marketplace filled with demons including some back rooms and some public areas, most notably a concert pavilion and some docks. I'm also glad to see the secret is still intact. This map is a bit trickier but you start out with the SSG, and shotgun ammo is practically caked around. Just watch where you decide to dip your toes in; those packs of cacodemons are actually pretty indimidating.

MAP31 A Full House: Given Duke's recent release, this level's title is a bit awkward. It's a casino, of course, crammed full of zombiemen with a few stronger demons representing. The opening is pretty harsh, but you can make a decent recovery. As you progress through the level, more beasties spawn in at the various tables and booths and in the restaurant. Some of them are perfectly willing to wail on the player while others... Well, you'll see. The restaurant is the most inspired section of the map, featuring several fish tanks you have to dive in from the top. It reveals one of ZDoom's limitations as you telefrag the demons in the shallow tanks. Also, you'll find that the pain elemental is mostly harmless.

MAP03 Mr. Splashy's: Your final destination is a small waterpark with three different rides. There's a slow, scenic ride for children that has some okay backdrops, a rafting ride designed to get the riders wet, and of course the superfast log flume. Otey has stuffed the lines full of Hellspawn waiting for their turn, and they won't tolerate line jumpers. You'll have to do some exploration to get the keys and get out. It'll also help if you bring stuff over from a previous map. Ammo is pretty tight, here, what with the thick cacodemon packs and no small number of Cyberdemons. The final fight is just ridiculous; I hope you have the good sense to just book it to the water slide. Sure, there's a BFG stashed around, but it hardly helps when you're the shooting gallery.

LIFE'S A BEACH
AND THEN YOU THIGH

Deimos Entry (PC94-21.WAD)

2012-02-20T00:03:00.002-06:00

DEIMOS ENTRY

(by Paul “pcorf” Corfiatis)

Deimos Entry is a short replacement for the first level in Doom's second episode by one Paul Corfiatis, done in the '94 style (compatible with Doom 1.2). It's got a few homages to the original, but the general elements are quite different. You start out in a pit, already alerting some riffraff, and are immediately confronted by yellow and red key doors (and some sinister marble facades). There's a combat armor nearby which will make the rest of the map breeze on by. The room's got a funky arrangement, with the piping cleverly aligned so that the bloody section just barely presents where it meets the red surface on top.

The first big wing has some nice soft lighting. What surprised me was the lack of a berserk pack trap, but I guess this is E2M1, after all. Grab it and make good use of it; you'll encounter several demons in this area, particularly with the yellow key trap, but nothing that dangerous. I still don't know how to get that automap. The yellow key area is pretty short, the main threat being imps on ledges. It also has the big Deimos homages, including the teleporter(s), the cherry red cross, and a plasma rifle secret. Raising the walkway is a nice way of evoking three-dimensional space.

The final area (behind the red key doors) is pretty simple, but you can approach it from two different angles. There's a walkway that disappears into the pool of blood (another bit from E2M1) and some inaccessible toxic piping on the west side, a nice detail. Flipping the main switch will of course reveal your final opposition, where pcorf lets the airborne enemies out to play. If you grabbed the plasma secret, it's a cakewalk. Otherwise, you might end up slightly pressured with your shotgun. A nice finale for a pretty easy intro map.

Deimos Entry is a little tougher than Deimos Anomaly, I wager, but it's a pretty easy map overall, as it should be. Novices can run from the bigger monsters while veterans can smile at this pleasant bit of nostalgia (and maybe do a little speed running). It's got a pretty nice classic feel going, though with a couple of sneaky mapping bits that push it ever so slightly higher (a good thing). You should play it, unless you're one of those people who can't bear the thought of playing The Shores of Hell.

DEIMOS ENTRYWAY

Return of the Triad (ROTT_TC_FULL.PK3)

2012-02-17T00:04:00.010-06:00

Johns Romero and Carmack played Rise of the Triad into the grave like two dudes on the same side of an air hockey table. People still love it, though. Sure, it's limited to 90 degree walls, but it's so delightfully arcade with the coins and jump pads and bodies exploding into ludicrous gibs... I'm sure some people wondered what RoTT would have looked like using Doom's engine. Well, through the miracle of science, Leon “El Zee” Zawada and Simon “5hfifty” Rance arranged such a thing! Actually, let's not kid ourselves. Return of the Triad isn't the Doom engine circa '93; it's the ZDoom engine as of '11. But WOW does it look so good. The story is pretty simple; H.U.N.T. discovers a Triad base (Episode One) that is merely an outpost of a much revived organization, dealt with in Episode Two.

Chances are if you're reading this, you're familiar with Rise of the Triad. If not, here are some basics. You get infinite bullets for three weapons, though once you get the submachine gun you won't be using anything else. You also get a slew of highly explosive armaments with limited ammunition. There are powerups, God mode and Dog mode, which make you invincible and pretty potent. And a whole slew of evil Triad members to blast into chunky kibbles exhibiting a broad variety of specialties. You can also destroy pretty much every decoration you find and pushwall secrets are back in, making great use of polyobject code.

For veterans, here's what's changed besides level geometry. You are expected to jump in Return of the Triad. I don't think it's strictly necessary to in order to beat the game, but there are plenty of goodies you can only get to by vaulting. Also, that thing where you could only carry one limited ammo weapon at a time? That's out. Every armament from the bazooka to the Excalibat can be accessed from key 4 to 0. Don't worry; Return is balanced around this fact. I also assume it's balanced for the biggest gameplay change. Since there are no lives in Return of the Triad, collecting monk coins has to give you something. When you hit 100, you get a free God mode. It seems like overkill in the earlier levels, but when you start hitting the later areas, you'll be thankful. The rest, including end of level bonuses and Priest Porridge Hot, remain intact.

So; these levels look gorgeous. They still feel very much like RoTT (2.0) just by featuring wide open rooms and corridors, but the detailing is superb with great use of slopes to add a softer edge and plenty of floor decorations. There's not a lot to get hung up on, so enjoy your playing field. The gravitational anomaly discs feature in many levels, creating different levels of play, at least three in one specific case. I feel safe in saying that El Zee knows his stuff. If you want to get a firsthand look at how different Return is from its source material, you're in luck! Zee recreated the first and eighth maps of the shareware episode as secret maps in his campaign. They hold up pretty good, but I really like what El Zee's done.

I don't really consider RoTT to have the most interesting bestiary. The enemies all have unique behavior, but Doom's collection is so much more colorful and varied. Both of Return's episodes only start to get engaging in the second half, where robots (for the first, only, interestingly) and monks / enforcers (for the second) start showing up. Up until then you'll get to paint the walls, and blowing the Triad is fun enough, even moreso with the random God modes. If Return of the Triad had a subtitle, it would be The Wrath of God. I'd say it trivializes some encounters, but when the alternative is grinding away at toughs with MP40 fire, I'll take the Hand.

If you wanted to try out RoTT but the Wolfenstein geometry turned you off, Return of the Triad is the mod for you. I'd also recommend it if you're just looking for some different gameplay but in a classical flavor. Actually, it's just a really good mapset, just with RoTT mechanics. Unless you despise this series, it's worth a play. Some notes: Early releases had a fairly ubiquitous crash bug that has since been fixed. Episode One consists of Return's demo package, a standalone minisode of two maps. Episode Two is the main game, featuring a seven map main campaign with two secrets and a credits level you should really stick around for. Don't mash that spacebar...until you get to the cast call.

RETURN OF THE TRIAD

(by Leon “El Zee” Zawada and Simon “5hfifty” Rance)

EPISODE ONE:
THE HIDDEN OUTPOST

MAP11 The Hidden Base (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): Large level that reintroduces you to the basics. Some things are very different but I like this new look for RoTT. The architecture still has that wide-open feeling but still visually interesting with lots of Triad detailing. I particularly liked the cistern area to the northwest and even that opening room which just screams “Triad 2.0”. Of course, given that it's RoTT, none of the fights here are all that distinctive, though throwing a bot in the silver key room was a great way to make things interesting.

MAP12 The Robot Factory (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): Larger than Hidden Base and a little trickier. There are some areas that really help sell the fact that it's a robot factory, like the open crate near the exit or that nightmarish conveyor belt sequence through all the crushers, or that machinery in the main hallway. Though the fighting is essentially as distinguishable as in the previous map, there are a few encounters that stand out in my mind, the first of which is the key fight right after getting off the elevator, quite a surprise. The crate room is pretty dangerous, too, but the centerpiece of the map is the reactor fight, which involves pumping rockets into the various bits of the generator, with waves of guards spawning in when you bring one down. Very cool.

EPISODE TWO:
RETURN OF THE TRIAD

MAP01 Into the Fortress (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada) : Nice long opener with plenty of enemies to blow apart. You'll have to work a bit for the machine gun, but on the way you'll see cool stuff like the fortress facade and main hall. Standout areas include the northwestern wing which houses a dog mode powerup and the fireball gauntlet to the northeast. There's even an elevator that takes the player from one part of the map to another. Standout moment is probably the poison gss trap, though you may have to do it over a few times depending on how quick you are navigating the maze (and finding the mask).

MAP30 The HUNT Begins (by Tom Hall): A painstaking recreation of the first level of Rise of the Triad's shareware episode down to the timed door (though it opens at 1 minute in). It's a cute reminder of what the TC is based on and also serves to highlight the differences in architecture between the two. If you haven't played the original, it's a great map for RoTT, showcasing many of the game's features from jump pads to mode powerups to moving wall hazards and other wonderful things.

MAP31 Wall to Wall (by Joe Siegler): A painstaking recreation of the normal secret level of Rise of the Triad's shareware episode. It showcases RoTT's moving walls (or more accurately ZDoom's polyobject code). It's got less aesthetic appeal, but the emphasis on changing level geometry makes it another fine example of the original game.

MAP02 Another “Mist”ake (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): Another large level, this one imitating ROTT's mist-obscured maps. Combat is fairly typical with a few major exceptions. I like the firewall trap, which lets you use your new toy straightaway in an optimized environment. There are also a few places where stupid guards walk into the blades of death, always fun. Last, the end fight is a gauntlet through three Triad Enforcers. SAVE YOUR ROCKETS. The more distinguishing bits use platforming elements, like the jumppad towers in the northeast or the creeping bridge across lava to the southwest. And the use of walls to push guards out over that long descending staircase is a nice touch.

MAP03 Pyramania (by Simon "5hifty" Rance and Leon "El Zee" Zawada): This particular outing has a heavy pyramid flavor, using the salmon-colored stone blocks quite prominently. I love the giant Triad motifs found throughout. Another nice element is that water portal. Nothing really new here except the debut of the magical weapons from Dark War. Both staffs are easy finds but the Excalibat involves a switchplate puzzle that I got purely by accident. If there's a clue to the solution, I didn't see it when I strolled through the map. None of the combat really sticks out to me except for an Enforcer lodged in a parapet (a little tricky to deal with) and that flamethrower maze to the west, where I believe the fire shoots faster as you pull levers.

MAP04 The Citadel (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): It's a citadel! But it's a lot more than a citadel. Difficulty really steps it up here with a host of both kinds of monks (though mostly the Death ones) as well as some really hairy fights. The final leg of the fortress is the most challenging, combat-wise (not to mention the actual exit). There are enemies on several tiers firing at you, so you'll have to watch out for monks near and afar on top of the ordinary trash. Then there's the final fight, squaring off against four Enforcers in a surrounding pattern. Also some really cool secret moments. In that same area, you'll find a jump pad that bounces you into a secret hidden in the ceiling. Very fun and the detailing is quite nice; I love the way slopes are used.

MAP05 The Rectory (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): I hope you like monks! And I hope you brought some explosives with you from the previous level. This gorgeous, lava-inundated monastery is pretty short compared to previous maps, but it's got a high HP count. Of course, knowing all the secrets will help. A lot. Seriously, you can get a lot of mileage out of that Excalibat and God Mode. These free for all Monk fights are pretty engaging and I was surprised by the Death Monks in the northeastern arena. The southwestern leg is pretty cool too, knocking out a ton of dudes and then picking off the pillar monks with the handy dandy staff. I wish ElZee had left just a few more explosives lying around.

MAP06 Catacomb Abyss (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): Hehe. Well, it's a huge series of catacombs, no doubt about that. They look great, loaded with tons of sarcophagi and pretty much all high-tier enemies. Mostly monks, but there are some overpatrol guys to ruin your day along with some enforcers (and special guests!). The large mausoleum area is one of my favorites as you don't quite know where the fire monks are at first and when you focus in on them the other guys kind of sneak up on you. My other favorite is the Excalibat puzzle, set in a darkened room where stepping into the wrong area teleports you back to the beginning. There's a trick, though, that's easy to catch on to and which makes the whole thing very easy. If you don't notice it, though, you may be a while.

MAP07 On the H.U.N.T. (by Leon "El Zee" Zawada): Basically a boss map. Starts out with a grind against a ton of enforcers before you get to grab a God mode powerup and go to town on a convent's worth of monks. I'm not sure what I was expecting for a final fight... Certainly not robot clones of the H.U.N.T. Team, who are INCREDIBLY LETHAL. Seriously, prepare to die. They're incredibly fast and have access to most of your weapons, most importantly the firewall. Don't be afraid to retreat; that's why they gave you that huge stockpile of monk crystals at the beginning.

Aliens: Colonial Marines TC (ALIENSCM.PK3)

2012-02-14T00:13:00.002-06:00

When I was a kid, I had several recurring nightmares. One of these had me walking to my room upstairs and seeing an Alien through the crack between the door and the frame. And even though I knew there was an Alien in the room, I couldn't stop myself from going in. In a way, Aliens: Colonial Marines (and the Justin Fisher TC before it) is a cathartic experience. The difference between the game and the dream is that, while I know There Be Aliens Here, I have just the slightest bit more control over my situation. Colonial Marines as a whole is much more lethal than the '94 relic, though it has some new toys and, as it's in GZDoom, a plethora of features including dynamic lighting, 3D floors, and other things to help set up its frightening atmosphere. The architecture is great, with a fairly realistic layout that only adds to the atmosphere, especially in the third area, the Atmosphere Processor, and other places like those hallways to the east in the first area look like they were ripped right out of the movie.

This Aliens TC removes the human element from the movie's story and instead attempts to relive the best bits of action from the point of view of one single marine, Corporal Dwayne Hicks. If you're not familiar with the story (where have you been?), here goes. Your ship has been sent to investigate possible hostile lifeforms on planet LV-246, the location of a terraforming colony that's mysteriously ceased communications with the Weyland-Yutani corporation. When you arrive, it's clear that the xenomorphs wiped out the colony. Why you're the only marine sent in to investigate is never established, but who cares? Time to frag some Aliens, marine.

Of course, Colonial Marines is not Doom, though it runs with either primary IWAD (that's right, dual compatibility!). You're not going to kill every alien that comes at you in this minisode. Eventually you'll do something that spawns an insurmountable wave of night terrors. In Comerma's survival guide there are a number of great hints and tips that will help extend your momentary lifespan. Search every nook and cranny; sentry guns are your best and only friend; the flamethrower is civilization; etc.. The most important note talks about knowing where to go when you hit a switch. This is because switches attract undue attention, summoning in a tide of monsters that you cannot hope to kill. Plot your escape and lay down whatever you can to slow your enemies.

The Aliens are many, and yet they are few. Your primary opponent is the ubiquitous alien warrior, which leaps with frightening speed and chews through your health and armor, spraying acid on its death. Some start out crawling on the ceiling. Thankfully, no Alien that touches the ground will ascend. Facehuggers return, more annoying and mobile than its '94 incarnation, but the true pest is the chestburster. These lightning-fast little shits crawl out of the dead colonist bodies lying everywhere and nickel and dime your health away. The good news is that when you've caught on, you can generally kill them as they appear, briefly immobile and vulnerable.

You've got a fair number of tools to combat the Alien threat. I don't recall ever using the pistol, but it's there, I guess. The pulse rifle is decent for taking on a few aliens at a distance, and has an explosive grenade alt-fire, but every so often it undergoes a reloading animation, and without a counter advising you when that's going to happen, you may find yourself frantically looking for some blockade. There's also the shotgun, of course, “for close encounters”. The flamethrower is pretty handy, sweeping creepy-crawlies on the ground as well as single-target damage. The smart gun is the real beast, blowing through aliens and ammo like popcorn, but you can't move when firing. Sentry guns are a great deterrent, provided you don't wake up a chestburster nearby and eat some friendly fire. The flashlight is cute, but flares are far more practical in hostile territory. Thank God for flares when you're crawling through the hive.

Exploring the uninfested areas is neat, and the lighting and architecture look great and help sell the package, but the best parts of this TC occur when you're running from evil or walking on eggshells in the depths of the atmosphere processor. It's about as far from Doom as you can get, unless by run you mean back the way you came. There's definitely a lot of tension, even moreso if you return to previously explored areas only to find an alien force barely held back by some choke point. I'm not particularly fond of the first encounter with the Queen, though. Moving past her and to the elevator is an uphill battle dependant upon her ability to call in reinforcements on a whim and how you handle the various obstacles in the hallway immediately after. The sheer amount of blockage in that one point is maddening.

That's really my one major pet peeve in a pretty cool TC, though. Seventeen years after the first, Comerma gives us another take on Aliens for a modern source port and all the advantages that entails. While it's not Doom as we know it – the slowest moments are much slower and the fastest moments much faster – it's much closer to the survival horror that inspired id. A lot like Doom 3, really, but with a ton of desperation mixed in. If this kind of FPS style turns you off, don't play Colonial Marines. On the other hand, if you want to experience Aliens in Doom and the lo-fi '94 TC never appealed to you, here's your chance. Just stay frosty and check those corners...

ALIENS:
COLONIAL MARINES TC
(by Oriol “Deimos Anomaly” Comerma)

E1M1 Main Colony Complex: Drops you off outside the base with zero fanfare. The colony exterior is creepy, being poorly lit, with its sparse encounters leave you guessing where the next attack will be coming from. The sparseness lets you get used to the mechanics and play around with things like the flares and flashlight. Exploration pays off, awarding precious ammo and other handy utilities. Take your own pace up until you hit the main switch; you'll need to get used to the more cautious gameplay as the aliens are incredibly deadly. The final portion is a mad dash to the exit, opposed by an enormous number of xenomorphs. Make good use of your supplies and keep a good pace or you'll find yourself cut down in a matter of moments. I like the layout of the level, though if you don't plan out your route to the exit, you'll probably spend a few attempts getting swarmed.

E1M2 Med.Lab and Operations: The Med Lab starts out like the complex, with no aliens in sight, but it's quickly apparent that the threat is greater. You'll quickly snag an invaluable shotgun and spend a few minutes clearing the lurking monsters, where a bit with the red key causes an insurgence of enemies heading toward the air duct. Unlike other waves of aliens, it's practical (and necessary) to kill them. From here exploration continues as normal until you hit the Operations room. It's a tricky little bit as, like before, hitting the button causes an onrush of xenomorphs. The first time I didn't realize where the actual exit was, assuming that the door immediately north of the Operations hallway was the actual exit. What you actually have to do is duck into the ducts in a sideroom, where gameplay interestingly branches between two routes, a warehouse with lurking beasts and a jaunt to the base's northwest exterior, still thick with aliens. Pretty cool.

E1M3 Atmosphere Processor: Massive and very cool. Starts out silent but the first door you open unleashes a wave of aliens you'll want to be prepared for. Afterward, it's by the numbers room clearing of aliens, except with that monster count you know the stakes are higher. I know there are several spawns partway through when you hit certain objectives, with the primary one being the cluster that effectively seals off the staircase when you first enter the hive. The hive is an excellent claustrophobic nightmare and you'll be treading lightly, ready to backpedal at the slightest noise. And so you reach the biggest bottleneck, the alien queen herself. You can't actually kill her, of course. The problem is that you have to clear out the eggs in order to make a run to the exit. During this, she occasionally summons more drones, which are a pain in the ass to deal with. Even when you've cleared the eggs out, you have to book it into a hallway with at least two beasts inside, chestbursters popping out of the corpses immediately outside, and, well, it's incredibly difficult to punch through with all the bullshit going on behind you. Very frustrating.

E1M4 USS Sulaco – Loading Deck: The ultimate showdown. Except, no exoskeleton necessary, though as you pound away on her you might start to wonder if you're missing some essential component. Just grab your supplies as you need them and have at it, taking care to look for her servitors when you give her a breather for your reloads.

GAME OVER, MAN

Object "34": Sonar (O34.WAD)

2012-02-10T00:05:00.002-06:00

OBJECT "34": SONAR

(by "Lainos")

“Sonar” is the third map in a loose trilogy of sorts by Russian Doomer Lainos. Objects 32 and 33 came before; 32 was a solo release and 33 was the final level of Clan [B0S]'s Da Will. The map as can be expected is for limit-removing ports that support OGG music (the preferred platform I'm guessing is PrBoom+). I'm not entirely sure what the intended story is as the description in the text file appears to be abruptly cut off. From what I can gather, you've been sent to an underwater UAC research facility. I'm guessing that communications were lost, sometime after making a discovery on the ocean floor, and you're supposed to investigate the disturbance, as well as find out what the station uncovered.

Object 34, is, well, massive. I didn't understand just how big this map was going to be until I grabbed the automap from a secret earlier on in the level. My jaw literally dropped as I panned around, looking at all of the features I was to explore, later finding out that some elements were of course obscured. They're densely packed in and, to further complicate things, the map layout is incredibly intricate, with plenty of crossovers on bits of machinery or cleverly-plotted architecture. There are some puzzle-solving elements, as well. Some of this has to do with figuring out what to do in order to explore the level, like raising platforms to access a particular ledge, then navigating your way to the step-off point. The fact that this is rarely a matter of convenience is perhaps the biggest strike I can level against this map, but shouldn't pose a problem to people who love to pick apart a level with their brains.

Sonar is easily divided into three different sections of roughly equal size. The first two compose the bulk of the playing area and are separated primarily by a series of red key doors that block progress until the first segment is (mostly) explored. The beginning area contains all three keys, which leaves the second zone a bit less clear in terms of progression. I don't know which switches I had to flip in order to open the gate to the third, but it's a safe bet that when you fully explore the rest of the base and hit all the switches, you'll have the door to the exit opened. And you should really investigate as much of the map as possible; there's a lot of unique architecture that gives each room a distinct feeling so that you're not burnt out from the same visuals (and helps avoid you feeling lost).

One of my favorite rooms in the first third of the map is a maze of machinery that looks like some mechanical Hell of pistons. It's not very dangerous but looks excellent. There's also a huge waterway in the southern section that makes heavy use of moving platforms that simulate water jets propelling you to different heights, topped off with a towering water-elevator that services four different levels. Navigating precarious perches is a constant theme throughout the map, though the two larger rooms to the north use some tricky platforming as their centerpieces. One of my favorite fights in this earlier portion has a room inundated with waterfalls. The enemies are obscured, creating a feeling of danger, and at some point an inner chamber opens up releasing more monsters whose locations you can't quite be sure of.

The defining feature of the second area is a series of recesses defined by an aquaduct that branches in a northwestern direction. It's a little dangerous as you're exposed to enemy fire and the dark depths are usually staffed with spectres. More tricky, too, as you have to do much more movement in three dimensions, triggering switches for bamboo-pole sprints and the like. It's also where you'll find the plasma rifle and BFG, locked away in two separate rooms. Securing these weapons may be entirely optional, but you'll want them when you enter the final area.

The ending sequence is in direct contrast to the previous 90% of the map. Yeah, you heard right; the final 1/3 of the map only contitutes 10% or less of actual gameplay, but it's the map's high water mark. You drop through the water in the exit chamber and plummet straight to the ocean floor. There's a variety of sea life in attendance, custom sprites of coral, fish, and even sea turtles. The monsters start out fairly spaced out but pretty soon you'll hear the sounds of monsters exploding into being and realize that you're in a time crunch. The boss shooter is fairly easy to deal with, which is a relief considering the Hell you had to go through to get here. I like the layout of the shooter spawn point, as you can clearly see the location from where the demons have assaulted the base. You're free to do some exploring, though, uncovering a critical cave with a sinister surprise and a lost, sunken city. Is it really R'lyeh?

Lainos has not skimped on detail. Each room of the underwater base stands apart from its neighbors without being distracting (or one might say fetishistic). Your normal reminder of your locale is the constant presence of water and seaweed, but if you pay attention you'll see windows in some areas that feature fish sprites that swim back and forth. A very cool touch. The sheer variety of rooms present coupled with its size may prove daunting for many players more familiar with typical Doom maps. I can't say I was ever confused excepting one particular spot. There's a passageway in the red key room that leads to the northwestern red door. It's hidden on the normal map but the area behind it was apparently the final switch I needed to hit to grant access to the exit. Now, given its close proximity to the red key, it's clear that you're gently nudged toward exploring that area first, but I forgot how to get back there and foolishly relied on my automap to give me the answer. Not really a criticism as much as an admission.

Sonar's combat is typical medium-difficulty room clearing. It's a little trappy, but I can't pick out any of these 900+ monsters as providing encounters more memorable than the others. Well, there's an ambush by Cacodemons up close in cages, plus that aforementioned waterfall battle. Also a fight in a wide open area where the player might rush forward to battle a mancubi only to find two pain elementals at his or her back. With the amount of health and ammo lying around, you're usually pretty well prepped to handle the insurgents. Your main obstacle will be navigating the base itself, a challenge best met by fans of Eternal Doom or similar WADs (Polygon Base comes to mind).

I think Sonar is fantastic. It has a great finish and the meat of the level, its base section, looks excellent and plays quite well. It's practically an episode's worth of content compressed into one single, contiguous experience. I also enjoyed its OGG soundtrack, a looping series of four pieces that convey an adventurous spirit, matching the slower-paced gameplay and exploration. Lainos has poured his heart and soul into a masterpiece that in some ways fits in with his previous release, Doxylamine Moon, but shows itself to be a very different animal. I'd say that this is my current favorite WAD for the 2012 Cacowards period, but, ahem, it's the only work I've played so far, so saying that wouldn't mean much at all! Regardless, this map is well worth a look.

IN HIS HOUSE IN R'LYEH

DEAD CTHULHU WAITS DREAMING

Whitemare (WHITEMAR.WAD)

2012-02-07T00:14:00.001-06:00

Whitemare is a Russian Doom Community project, steeped in the theme of winter. Near the tail end of 2010, iddqd.ru had a speedmap competition; twelve levels produced from the event form the base of this megaWAD, some undergoing serious renovation. The other six were added in after the fact, forming the eighteen-map work released near the beginning of 2011. It's got a rudimentary framework-plot to boot. Demons can't abide by Christmas and New Years celebrations so it's Doomguy's job to stop them from ruining everyone's fun. And, yes, this WAD has a very slight Christmas theme in addition to the general winter feel, if the numerous Christmas trees made out of level geometry didn't tip you off.

Though the season is the reason, you'll find yourself trudging through caverns of ice in nearly every map featured. They sure got a lot of mileage out of that frozen wall texture. Actually, there are a lot of new textures to be found here (and a little bird mentioned that some of these come from Hexen II, most obviously the edited demonic portraits). The ones you'll see the most are more earthen caverns, though I noticed a few new techbase elements in the rare instances they cropped up. When you're not in the tighter ice caverns, prepare to enjoy the massive winter landscapes crafted by the authors as canyons, chasms and mountains. There are also a fair number of ancient ruins, buried in the winter wonderland as though you're at the mountains of madness.

As far as gameplay, there's a broad variety of styles present. One of the more prominent motifs puts the player in a wide open area with enemies surrounding you on the high ground, taking pot shots. The other idea that keeps coming up is the flat out brawl, sometimes in wide open areas and at others in close, deadly spaces. There's usually a way to duck monster attacks but it may take you precious moments to get a grasp on your situation. The most difficult ones usually involve archviles to some degree, requiring you to watch your positioning and possible ways of egress at all times. Actual maps vary between small linear affairs to large, non-linear and ultimately exploratory as is the case with MAP08 and MAP15.

Whitemare is a community project that features the end product of a speedmapping competition. It's a little uneven in places, but it's a nice package from the Russian Doom Community. If the first few maps don't grab you, try skipping ahead to MAP11 and playing on from there. Note that MAP08 and MAP15 in particular are very large and feature a lot of exploration. Traditional Doomers might better appreciate the other levels, which are more linear and pack more action in. It would have been nice if they'd taken more care to touching up the speedmaps, but it's nice to have what we were given so graciously as a late Christmas present.

WHITEMARE
(by assorted authors)

MAP01 Ice Canyon (by Sanya aka “Dragon Hunter”): Pretty straightforward opening map with a few hairy parts. It's a canyon carved out in ice, of course, and while the sole texture used to communicate this fact wears a little thin in the larger spaces, you probably won't have time to notice when you're working on clearing out the canyon ambush putting you between two squads of revenants with mancubi running interference, or in the main battle area, which gives you some more room to move but has a number of imps and a few arachnotrons firing down on you as well. The dark spaces are used effectively, where you'll probably be inching forward with your chainsaw out. Very violent, but with a few forgiving secrets.

MAP02 North Base (by “Bed.intruder”): Architecture is much more basic, using mostly wide open outdoor areas. The meat of the map is found in its encounters. Highlights include the teleporter ambush by the little base canyon to the north and the massive forest fight, where you'll be on the lookout for sneaky imp and baron fireballs while demons try to chomp on you. There's plenty of health and ammo scattered in the woods, and you'll need to do a thorough search if you want to move on to the final area. The starting fight is a little rough but the big one is the revenant / commando battlement which is a pain to make safe but gives some nice close combat when you step inside, followed by a decent final surprise.

MAP03 Sacrifice (by “Archi”): A much tighter layout with pretty good detailing, especially in the indoor areas. The single largest area contains a maze you have to trudge through to grab the yellow key. Most of the map isn't terribly difficult, but there's a distinct ammo shortage when you approach the final fight, the standout encounter, which I initially thought was impossible but actually turned out to be quite manageable as the second enemy group lays dormant until it actually sees the player, explaining that handy switch alcove. The enemies emerging from the exit portal are a nice touch. I highly recommend you do a little fisting if you want to feel comfortable during the climax.

MAP04 LDFXGESA (by “Memfis”): Short and sweet techbase map with a dangerous, icy exterior. The base itself is a little hazardous with a crossfire you'll want to get a lid on ASAP. The bits you should actually worry about are all on the outside, though, dealing with mancubi on an upper ridge and several arachnotrons clogging up the main area. There's a little installation to explore, kind of like a building annex minus the roof, with at least one nasty surprise. Then there's the Cyberdemon near the end. You don't have to kill him, of course, and the task seems daunting with what weaponry and ammo you're given. I actually managed to get him stuck on one of the ice floe lifts and render him (mostly) harmless. Your mileage may vary. Oh, and cute Christmas tree.

MAP05 The Ancient Mysteries (by “Cybermind”): This is a really cool level that takes place entirely in some ice tunnels (well, with a short intermission in some very nice-looking ruins). The first half is basically tunnel clearing that kind of drags since your most powerful weapons are the shotgun and chaingun, facing down several toughs. The centerpiece though is a slaughter cave with three archviles in it that you're warped to. You'll have to run to the weapon cave and then duck between alcoves and around pillars, taking potshots while keeping track of them. It's a shame, because the rest of the fights were distinctly less exciting, though adequate, ending on a Cyberdemon finale with a minor twist.

MAP06 Frozen Point (by “NRM”): Another short and straightforward map. It's mostly underground, like MAP05, but the penultimate section has you emerging from subterra and into a hedge maze. The encounters aren't inherently difficult but the low lighting cloaks the hitscanners (mostly commandos) until they can get a cheap shot or two on you. My favorite part is the main ruin, looking very sweet, while the hedge maze is playable but slows things down with all the lost souls around the perimeter that take forever to get to a vulnerable position. Standout encounter is the first plunge into the underground lake which pushes you to get your bearings with all the monsters lurking around.

MAP07 Ledges of Pain (by “Archi”): Very to the point. After grabbing your stuff you have to race down the freezing cold ice tunnels before emerging in the battle area. The monster count totals three mancubi followed by three arcachnotrons. There's enough cover to work around as long as you don't get too excited and just barely enough ammo, with your fifty bullets acting as your buffer. Not much else to say, though the architecture is adequate, and the rush to conserve your health is a nice bit of pressure.

MAP08 Ice Cavern (by “Nil”): This is very much a puzzle map, echoing in some ways the Bob Evans style. Appropriately, all the weapon besides the shotgun and chaingun are hidden behind secrets. I still don't know how to lower the bars in front of the secondary blue key door, which houses a rocket launcher. The plasma rifle, along with a secret exit, is accessed via several secrets, including a one-shot puzzle involving the northern Stonehenge-like ruins. I figured out the solution, but I don't know what the reasoning behind it is. The map is very intricate and has a huge cave network at the west end of which is a facsimile of a small city located within a keep, the east end having a large outdoor area featuring some castle ruins, which you'll be returning to several times. Like an Evans map, it can be pretty frustrating to play (given that you're undergunned much of the time) but gratifying when you figure out what Nil wants you to do. If you can clue me in to how to lower the bars in front of the rocket annex, that would be great. I thought it had something to do with the off-color patch of wall almost right next to it, but it looks like it's just a texture error.

MAP09 Coldblood (by “Ameba”): Short but neatly designed base map with a few tough encounters. While it's very orthogonal, the detailing in the lighting and icicles masks its straight layout. It's a little scary exploring the structure with the threat of teleporting monsters looming over you, but it only manifests upon grabbing the red key, which comes with a combat shotgun. It's a tough wave, though, beating back several revenants and an archvile on top of some other nasties that teleport in with them. The furnace room isn't as hard but the darkness muddies the issue a bit. Very fun.

MAP10 Sweet House (by Glory “Slavius” Antonio): A pittance of a map. You start out on the porch of a lost house, grab a nearby shotgun, and kill some zombiemen. Exploration reveals some kind of electrical architecture but the only nearly threatening fight is a pain elemental, and I'm using the term threatening loosely. Then when you grab the key it's back to the house which is a nice little shack, but inessential to the level's progress. Cute, but lacks substance.

MAP11 Nord Keep (by “Shadowman”): Immaculate stone keep fronted by an approach through several ice canyons. It's kind of got an Eternal Doom feel, except it's a bit more straightforward. Things are a bit hectic once you get inside the actual keep walls, with a cramped and dangerous courtyard fight overlooked by plenty of shooters, not to mention the sojourns into parapets manned by revenants. The truly difficult portion involves the crossways hallway, though, particularly when Shadowman floods the area with revenants and several archviles, followed by a Cyberdemon fight that could prove tricky. The rest of the map kind of pales in comparison. Quite cool.

MAP12 Kleptomania (by “BeeWen” aka “Lestat”): This is a pretty neat icy techbase map. It's got a 3D bridge (functions as an awning you have to climb across, so in execution it's a little buggy) and the outer yard fight is one of the coolest battles, featuring a number of columns of ice that when shot shatter into revenants that join the fight, which makes an already hectic crossfire quite intense. It's also got a neat sequence where a baron of Hell absconds with the blue key, reappearing and disappearing at several points to needle the player, my favorite bit being the imp / demon chamber. My only complaint is that BeeWen could have made traveling between areas a little easier once you've already gotten there. Some players are bound to fail to notice the recessed buttons and go exploring and a few spontaneous staircases could really expedite the adventure.

MAP13 The Abandoned Base (by “Cybermind”): Starts out in a watery chasm that's a bit tough if you don't jump to the side and grab the shotgun on the little island. After punching your way through some former humans, you end up in a techbase invaded by Hell that evokes shades of Duke Nukem 3D's “Lunar Reactor” (mainly thinking of that outdoor walkway across the chasm, which is a dangerous and annoying fight). Actually, there are quite a few deadly battles to find here, like the cramped yellow key encounter with two archviles, or the hallway bit right after the yellow key door where the safe route is in fact PAST the revenants in order to grab the rocket launcher. As far as interactivity, Cybermind has a feature where you can tear down a wall of ice in several chunks, a nice touch. Great tough map.

MAP14 Hopeless Joy (by “BeeWen” aka “Lestat”): I thought this was going to be a lot bigger, but, well, I'll explain. This map starts out with you dropping into some ancient ruins with four gravestones. Looks nice, but nothing really going on in the main room. From there you can explore the eastern and northwestern caverns. The eastern allows you to lower the water level, allowing further progression, while the rest of the map is northwest. There's a puzzle section where you have to flip switches to open doors on a central pillar, then step on the correct tiles on your way to the switch, otherwise the door will shut. This unlocks the final area. First, go outside and collect some of the presents BeeWen left you under the Christmas tree. Afterward, flip the switches in the compound, giving you a new wave of presents you'll have to clear. I'm not entirely sure what needs to be done to access the button that lowers the exit teleporter, but I managed to waffle my way through it without much stress. I guess the ending room is your “Hopeless Joy”...

MAP15 Arctic Heart (by Sanya aka “Dragon Hunter”): An absolutely MASSIVE arctic map whose features include a harbor full of ice floes, an enormous skyway bridge walled with opposition, and plenty of mountain ranges to explore. While most of the combat is incidental, there are a few masterful encounters that will leave you reeling. The first one that comes to my mind is the ice shelf that collapses beneath you, leaving you in a crater with a Cyberdemon, followed up by two hordes of demons and a horde of revenants as you hit switches to escape. There's a tighter Cyberdemon fight up by the yellow key, where you'll get a lot of mileage out of the mancubi perched on the pillars. There's the skyway itself, of course, quite the trek and featuring a Spiderdemon showdown. And the exit area, a cargo ship assaulted by cacodemons before its final, tricky finale. Perhaps the highlight of the entire WAD, a joy to experience.

MAP31 Ice Riff (by “Archi”): Your pre-boss intermission is this monster-devoid map with some light platforming elements. It's some ice caverns interspersed with ruins, as well as a big ol' lava flow that's responsible for much of the water on the ground. Not much else to say. If you enjoy exploring and platforming like I do, you might get a kick out of this.

MAP32 Mogor's House (by “Shadowman”): Starts out with a house in the middle of nowhere with some chaingunners annoyingly perched on pillars outside the playing area. Looks pretty innocent at first, as long as you ignore that ominous ragtime. Then you open up the outhouse and out pops Mogor! He's an edited SS Trooper that fires cacodemon fireballs on top of the normal attack. He's also really fast. Around this time, too, a ton of imps and demons are unleashed from the areas around the house that were previously inaccessible. The key to your survival rests in the three pillars, previously guarded by commandos. Otherwise you're not gonna have the firepower to take him down, and you'll meet your fate while on this time-trapped isle.

MAP16 Depraved Feast (by “Arsenikum”): It's a giant Christmas tree made out of viscera and decorated with demon ornaments. How do people beat shit like this? I can handle the three switches to lower the shield, that stuff's cake. Once you have to get on the pillar, though, you might as well point yourself at a wall and eat your own rockets. Every errant demon will wander into your line of fire attracting almost every rocket you send his way, which is quite a ways away. Clearing the ground troops doesn't matter because cacodemons and pain elementals seem inexplicably drawn to protect their demon master. You can't even depend on firing a rocket over his head, yet you expect me to time shots before and after? I really hate this map. It's a decent idea, but I hate it. Just send me back to Mogor's House.

Vaporware (VAPRDEMO.WAD)

2012-02-04T00:04:00.001-06:00

It's been a long time since I said I'd play the Vaporware demo. And, well, here I am! The only time I've used the Eternity engine in the interim is to check bugs across different ports in a few isolated instances, which after playing this seems like a gross misuse of a fantastic product. Vapordemo won a Cacoward in 2011, in part due to the belief that this was about as far as the project would ever progress. I sincerely hope that isn't the case, because this single excerpt from Vaporware (sadly the only project besides Mordeth I can even name, excepting a few dual-compatible projects and the canceled TC) is a simply fantastic yet all too brief offering from Michael “Esselfortium” Mancuso. When it was done, I wanted more, so at the very least it's fulfilled its basic criteria insofar as it's designed to get me interested in the full release.

Immediately I was struck by the beauty of the railway cars and the reflective floor. Then the simple sliding doors that usher you into the absolutely gorgeous canyon. There's that ledge base off in the distance – an excellent set piece that stirs my imagination, the perfect visual hook for this adventure. In my first engagement, I see a simple gore mod which adds a nice richness as I pelt the demons and other Hellspawn with my shotgun paired with the smoother weapon animations. And that nice steam effect coming from the piping. The initial experience is a great demonstration of Eternity's aesthetic capabilities, showing off things we take for granted in the port that launched a thousand mods – and then some.

This map isn't all about looks, though. For an opener, Essel pushes the player a bit with the first few traps. The little imp and demon cubby isn't that shocking, but the switch that opens up the map's biggest feature throws two mancubi and two faces from the Realm 667 bestiary I wasn't familiar with, the Catharsi. They add a nice bullet hell element to the encounter distinct from the mancubi, complementing the setup quite nicely. It's even got a good intro with the lights momentarily blacking out (well, not too dark). When you're done, you can take the time to admire the centerpiece of this mapping extravaganza, the crane room, which has several tiers through which you'll explore. Shortly after you'll encounter the map's other two Bestiary monsters, the Shadow (pretty cool) and the Rapid Fire Trooper.

The second floor has a nice traditional firefight with some cacodemons stuffing things up while you try to get your bearings on your enemies, attacking from several different angles. And you'll see a bit of the railing has been removed – no fake room over room. If you jump through, you'll wind up on the bottom floor. The other big fight has basically the same elements as the yellow – err, orange key battle, but depending on how you're caught, may prove to be a more dangerous affair. From there you get the last cool bit, where you can lower the crate with the backpack into jumping distance before exiting the map.

Vaporware's demo is a fast-paced sexy showcase of Eternity's features. I'd love to see more maps in this vein, though I know a ton of hard work has been poured into this level alone. The use of slopes to make attractive ceilings and add little bits like slanted tiles is very nice, along with the carefully constructed pipes that crop up here and there. I'll also mention a very excellent soundtrack. Really, I can see why this won a Cacoward; nothing like it had been released prior, and I hope the work doesn't end with this tiny masterpiece. Thanks, Essel, for showing just what the Eternity Engine is currently capable of. I just wish more authors would embrace it, having now played something exclusively designed for it.

SUPERIOR TO ACTUAL VAPORWARE

Mandrill Ass Project (MANDRILL.WAD)

2012-02-02T00:18:00.001-06:00

I can think of several reasons why the name of this GZDoom WAD is appropriate. First and foremost, you will at some point enter a mandrill's ass. Seriously, it's an important plot point. Second, it's got some very colorful maps, for the most part breaking away from the stock Doom II resources we're intimately familiar with. It also has a humorous edge hiding behind the gameplay, with short dialogues and little sidepieces setting the tone, as well as some outlandish scenarios. Finally, as Aluqah points out himself near the beginning of MAP06, Mandrill Ass Project's acronym is MAP. Really, he couldn't have chosen a better name. Especially because of the part where you have to climb into a mandrill's ass.

Why, you might ask? Well, because someone uploaded a virus to the UAC computer servers. It's a demonic virus, which ups the ante a bit (and anyone who's played the Doom RPG games knows this). Before they kill the infected computer, though, the commander needs some data recovered, and sends you into the computer's virtual reality to retrieve it. By the time you get out, the demons have broken into our space and begun to multiply. You eventually manage to neutralize the source, but the remaining Hellspawn are building a device with which they plan to annihilate humanity. Inside a mandrill's ass. You'll have to miniaturize yourself and penetrate deep into the lousy primate. There's a surprise twist at the end, and a happy ending. Certainly worth plowing your way through a mandrill's ass.

Like I said, MAP is pretty colorful. You'll fight your way through three different computer-inspired battlegrounds, an invaded city block, a Chocolate Factory, an island stronghold, a dining table and child's playroom, from biplane to biplane and through the gates of Heaven itself. And, uh, inside a mandrill's ass. The computer levels are wonderfully abstract with all sorts of great, broad architecture and great use of three-dimensional floors. The more concrete areas are neatly constructed without being boring, and the two neatest scenarios are excellently rendered in GZDoom. Thankfully, a convenient drug trip to vibrant scenery spares you the agony of exploring the gory details of the mandrill's ass.

Gameplay is a little rough in a few places but pretty good throughout. Pistol starts are not supported due to a lack of recurring weaponry. Just carry your gear from map to map and enjoy your ammo stores. You'll be up to your neck in cells and shells, particularly in the later levels. The hardest parts by far are the platforming bits in MAP06 and MAP09, where you leap between surfboards and biplanes, respectively. Even if you're practiced in jumping, I think Aluqah has subtly altered your bounding abilities for each area to better facilitate your movement, so you'll have to get a grip on your new prowess. I really liked them, though. My least favorite parts were deadly dull waves of monsters spawning in, usually imps. This feature was at its worst for me in MAP07 due to the monsters arriving at a drip's pace. It's just coincidence that the same map happens to feature the mandrill's ass.

Mandrill Ass Project is charming, fairly well put together, and its successful ambitions (while not lofty) outweigh its rougher characteristics. I would recommend this WAD to anyone who has a sense of humor or just wants to climb into a mandrill's ass. Serious Doomers and people who can't platform for shit should avoid. Oh, and people who don't want to explore a mandrill's ass. I think that Doom needs more humorous works like this, as opposed to those other maps. You know the ones. Of course, if a ton of levels crop up featuring miniaturized rectal probing, I'll have to eat my words. So don't do it, Maes.

MANDRILL ASS PROJECT
(by “Aluqah”)

MAP01 Hardware: Hardware is part intro map with a few NPCs to talk to (one recommends system settings while the other sets the story up) and mostly a trippy battle inside an actual computer. It's the most authentic rendition of such a concept I've seen to date, with the actual physicalities lovingly rendered. Combat is pretty easy focusing mainly on zombiemen and imps with a couple of tougher monsters mixed in. I don't really care for the multiple waves of enemies, though. Once is enough, and twice is pushing it. Three times? Bleh. Regardless, it's a fun little map. Also, watch where you leap. Exploring the wrong area may cause you to violently explode.

MAP02 Software: Appropriately features stranger architecture, looking more like Tron than Honey I Shrunk the Doomguy. The lifts and things breaking away from the floors are really cool and the red key room is simply breathtaking in its simplicity (with a nice little story sequence). There's a little platforming to do, of course, but it's rudimentary stuff. Difficulty steps up a little with some bigger monsters. Nothing too threatening except for maybe the gauntlet you run after grabbing the yellow key, which adds some pressure without being overwhelming. Very cool level with a lot of charm in its 80s-like virtual reality sensibility. Gotta love that skybox.

MAP03 Doomed City: Apparently the demons won while you were in the supercomputer so you'll have to fight your way out of the now overrun UAC base and escape the demon-infested city. Things start out a little tense with archviles lurking around every corner before you finally escape the UAC base. The city block is serviceable without being overbearingly realistic and while there are some annoying rooftop snipers, nothing is incredibly dangerous. It's kind of fun exploring the central section, but most of the action comes from triggering the primary ambush, which is where the majority of the map's monsters enter in – a flood of imps sprinkled with a few cacodemons and lost souls. That explains why you get so many shells beforehand! Also, nice Pink Floyd reference.

MAP04 Doomguy and the Chocolate Factory: Another theme map, this one a tiny approximation of Willie Wonka's famous creation, though clearly favoring the Depp version. The scenery is basic though quite evocative, with giant sprinkles, vanilla frosting, and tons of chocolate. After you fight through the relatively open scenery area you can investigate the rest of the lab, with a nice hanger fight (and a surprise monster in the closet) as well as a trek down the chocolate river to Wonka's warehouse (which has a cute Chocolate Doom joke). There's a bit here that's really neat which escaped me the first time I hit it as I'm not used to thinking in terms of 3D architecture. Suffice it to say, you'll have to go for a swim to get the red key card, before you're treated to the end of level sequence, a nice showcase of the TV room. Cute map.

MAP05 Enter the Matrix: Back to the Tron-style levels for this level. Not too difficult with plenty of enemies to dump your amassed ammo into, particularly two sections which feature hordes of imps ripe for the slaughter. There are also two Cyberdemons to contend with. They're both rudimentary fights, solvable easily with the plasma rifle and the ammo given (though gutsy players may save some ammo using the BFG on the second). The big finale is an asault against the demonic virus that tainted the UAC supercomputer, rendered in impressive neon green mesh. The fight's not all that exciting, coming in three different waves of arachnotrons, imps and then mancubi, but it ends with a humorous poke at the Matrix. Oh, and check the back of the virus structure...

MAP06 Surfer Motherfuckers: Now for a trip to the beach, followed by a platforming section. You have to surf to an island compound (yes, surf!) and leap from board to board as they rise and fall, bearing imps. It's kind of rough to get a handle on jumping, but it's not too hard on you as the fight is scripted based on the imps you kill. In the end, you have to snuff two cacodemons before beginning the island assault. It's pretty easygoing with a nice jaunt to some local ruins before you can enter the resort, which involves a groaner (not the talking toilet but the password). The surfboard sequence is obviously the standout sequence, but the initial approach to the hotel has some good combat.

MAP07 Fresh Meat: Gimmick map where you're miniaturized on the table in the dining room. There are plenty of lovingly-constructed utensils and portions of food, the setup you can see right before the bizarre toilet speaks again. Then the fight begins. It's one of the low points of the mapset, as you fight a constant trickle of imps that lasts way too long, followed by a shorter trickle of revenants, before ending on Cyberdemons (!). When you finally clear everything a bridge opens up to the perennial miniaturization setting, a child's playroom, with legos and alphabet blocks and toy cars. The action is a bit better here, though nothing that exciting. And then, the mandrill. It's a neat concept overall, but the table fight pacing is awful.

MAP08 LSD Trip: Same general geometry as one of the Tron levels, except it's been saturated with rainbow-colored textures. It also has some of the best action of the levelset, with cacodemons assaulting the central platform, mancubi returning to gum things up, and the eastern slaughter room with its initial clear and then later parallel revenant entrenchments. The finale pits you against some spread out chaingunners and a Spiderdemon...initially. Afterward, your spacious arena gets eight Cyberdemons thrown into the mix. Once you corral them into the center, of course, it's just an exercise in strafing with the BFG, but it's a good finish (and certainly not a bad trip).

MAP09 Aces High: For once your marine buddy is silent. Then again, what can you say to someone who's just crawled out of a mandrill's ass? Without warning, you go for a trip on some biplanes. It's another platforming section, and like MAP06 it's a little difficult to get a handle on your jumping, but the time pressure is nonexistent. After a short climb you arrive at the gates of Heaven, where you've chased the demons. You'll have to contend with their creator before you can declare your victory. Frankly, I didn't see this ending coming at all. Cool opening hook and the boss shooter is pretty standard, though it may take you a second to figure out how to lower the platform again.

Marine's Folly (MARFOLY.WAD)

2012-01-29T00:45:00.000-06:00

MARINE'S FOLLY
(by Chris “Mr. Chris” Pisarczyk and
Michael “Valkiriforce” Jan Krizik)

Marine's Folly is a joint effort by Doomworld forum superstars Mr. Chris and Valkiriforce, a vanilla-compatible MAP14 replacement for Doom II created over the course of three days. The text file doesn't leave much story, simply leaving it at “A place you don't want to wander around without means of defending yourself.” It's pretty succinct, and indeed, you don't want to be exploring without packing heat, so it's a good thing they throw you a shotgun near the start.

While playing, I honestly couldn't tell who was responsible for what area. Not only am I unfamiliar with Chris's mapping style, but the map has quite a uniform character. It draws much of its aesthetics from the level it replaces, The Inmost Dens. Well, more the texture scheme than anything. While there are a few pools of water to splash around in, most of your adventuring is done on (and in!) terra firma. It is also, as advertised, decidedly non-linear. You can explore in one of several different directions, your efforts either opening up pathways facilitating better movement or in a few cases unlocking new areas of the map entirely. If you hit a switch and the result isn't immediately apparent, revisit any previously barred doors.

Gameplay is mostly normal room-clearing with a denser assortment of enemies. There are a few flies in the ointment, of course. One of the more memorable fights is a pit trap sandwiching you between two caves full of beasties, so experience in close-quarters combat is a must. The other big fight comes right at the end, when approaching the switch opening the exit. You let lose a swarm of monsters, one of which is an archvile. Things get tense here as you have a limited amount of ammo and the demons are no doubt breathing down the corridors. I hope you saved your rockets or it's gonna be a bumpy ride. The battle on your way to the aforementioned switch is pretty good, too. Just some high-HP monsters to serve as a dangerous choke point.

I can kind of see where people might get lost in this map, but it didn't bother me any. I did miss the staircase switch on my first pass because I was a little hopped up from the pit trap, which may be what's throwing off some players. Really, if Mike and Chris did some more of these – Doom Done Different, or something (apologies to DominicWhite) – I'd play them. I would recommend Marine's Folly if you're looking for a more complicated take on Doom II that doesn't stray too far from its core values.

EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL

Reverie (REVERIE.WAD)

2012-01-26T00:06:00.000-06:00

Reverie is the other vanilla-compatible megaWAD Doomworld forum superstar Valkiriforce released in 2011. It's also the one that won a Cacoward (as well as the coveted Brandon D. Lade award, courtesy of Doomworld forum superstar Gez). Why Reverie and not Doom Core? Well, this is basically Doom Core 2.0, by which I mean the same principles and influences are present, tempered by experience gained up to and including Reverie. There's more coherence, more polish, and just higher quality all around. The story follows the marine from Doom, who realizes that the events of the past few games never happened – they were all a dream, produced by his coma-fueled imagination. He must therefore fight his way through another horde of demons, symbolically battling his illness. If victorious, he will return to reality.

Krizik's goal was to produce a mapset whose aesthetics and gameplay echoed the big names from '95 to '97. Icarus, Memento Mori, Requiem, Cleimos... I think he reached his target in some ways, but the underlying design is Valkiriforce to the core. Except for the fact that the texture themes change from level to level, I don't think anyone could mistake this for having more than one author, though I've noticed a shift to incorporating more arena-style fights into the maps. The levels are also smaller on average than the ones in his previous megaWAD, Doom Core. It makes for fast but difficult challenges with rapidly changing aesthetic themes that keep things fresh.

If you're unfamiliar with Valkiriforce's style of gameplay, it's very trappy, with plenty of puzzles. They're rarely if ever obscure with the exception of the purposefully complicated MAP31, an homage to the works of Bob Evans and Jim Flynn. He's also fond of shipping you off to entirely different map sections via teleporter, like MAP08, which employs the concept in a very big way (and is also fairly puzzle-involved). As for combat, a common complaint concerning Doom Core was the ubiquitous nature of everyone's favorite monster, the commando. His presence is largely toned down, though there are still a few chaingunner traps that may leave you reeling.

Another point to mention is Reverie's vanilla compatibility. It uses a plethora of Olde mapping tricks: lots of 3D bridges, lifts, deep water, and most interestingly the archvile ghost monster bug in MAP18. You'll want to use a port that correctly emulates the old resurrection behavior (if only for that particular level). Like its forebears, it attempts to reach beyond vanilla's limits without actually exceeding them (besides the occasional savegame buffer overflow, but whatever). It's very traditional, but in Krizik's inimitable speedmapped style. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on what you look for in your Doom WADs. Reverie doesn't have a lot of innovation, but some of its features resurrect evolutionary offshoots of Doom gameplay that might as well be innovation for all we see them today, and I think that's commendable in and of itself. (Make more levels like MAP31 please.)

I playtested the first third of Reverie as evidenced by the .TXT (though not the credits screen), but I'm hardly biased. I think I had some choice words to say about map difficulty at the time, but playing it now, most of my earlier misgivings have evaporated (probably because I suck less and wasn't playing it in a different port than I'm used to). I'm still critical at where he caved to some playtesters in MAP08, but then again I didn't get the Keen puzzle prior to his placing lost souls up there. All in all, Reverie is a very good mapset for anyone who wants to revisit those glory days of Doom during its height of popularity. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for classic action in unfamiliar (well, mostly unfamiliar) settings.

REVERIE
(by Michael Jan Krizik aka “Valkiriforce”)

MAP01 Stratos Gate: Ye Ode Entryway knockoff. Well, more like Ye Olde MAP01, which has some Entryway homages. There's the starbase room with the green armor, or the exterior shotgun secret, or the first interior room, which is similarly themed to the familiar penultimate chamber. Mostly violent gameplay, with the opening pitting you against no less than five sergeants and the main chamber housing two commandos on pedestals in the middle of an imp crossfire. The whole opening sequence is pretty good, all told. I particularly like the outdoor starting area.

MAP02 Soldier's Stand: Small violent techbase set in the mountains with a bitch of an opening. Dropping down the tube is about the last thing you actually want to do. The foyer is an absolute shootout, packed with zombiemen you'll want to kill asap. The rest shows Valkiriforce's penchant for puzzles, particularly the lift bit that bridges the crate room and the brown, barrel-filled annex (not to mention the secret sequence). The ending is a neat little piece that evokes the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with a few imps partying around a monolith-like structure.

MAP03 The Cup of Wrath: Short and very straightforward run through a series of mostly circular rooms connected by raised walkways. The opening is disconnected, though, a dangerous start-up where you're restricted by a waist-high wall while a number of hitscanners attempt to get at you from around the central obstruction. The rest is mostly standard room-clearing with the exception of the dangerous fortress entrance and the blue key trap, which is a bit unfair to the player as a number of commandos and sergeants shuffle into the upper ring with no safe spot to stand.

MAP04 Divine Judgement: Very light brown level with tan brick and stone (and some wood). Most of the action takes place in or around liquid-flooded areas, some toxic, some not. The starting bit is the major exception. It's not absolutely choked with switches but there are certainly some buttons to press, with a few more intricate puzzles at the map's beginning and near the end (the yellow key sequence). Action typically puts the player in exposed positions with semi-limited mobility, like the cacodemon / imp cage fight near the opening or that evil hell knight / spectre romp in the northern outdoor area, both strong contenders for my standout encounter.

MAP05 Substance: Starts off feeling kind of like a Chris Klie map with the way space is used in the western half before moving into an Orin Flaharty-style finale (reminiscent of his Memento Mori maps). The western area is jam-packed full of hitscanners with a few oddities like a pain elemental in the basement or the lost soul room. My standout moment is the level's final area, though, with the careful annihilation of commandos before having to rush the hell knights, coupled with a very neat soul sphere secret in the center. Fun stuff.

MAP06 Sledgehammer: Very fun puzzle-tacular romp through a mixture of vine-covered ruins and techbase. I especially like the four courtyard area right before the blue key with quite the puzzle progression. One particular gauntlet has a sort of leapfrog progression as you fight through side-corridors to get a shot at a switch in the next room that opens the next door. Some really good fights, too, like the battle right around the yellow key (diabolical!) and the wave that teleports in when you lower it. Great visuals, great fighting; I love it! Also I don't remember there being five barrels around that final surprise, hah.

MAP07 Lazarus: Haha, wow this map is coming back to me. Starts out as a really cramped corridor affair with some abstract architecture before turning into a Dead Simple free-for-all in a Hell fortress style. There's an outer ring you'll have to clear with sergeants in the hallways and mancubi in each corner and the center ring, which has hell knights, demons, and four corners with two revenants and a mancubi each. Once you manage to sort that stuff out (with the aid of a berserk pack and possibly a megasphere) you can tackle the arachnotrons, who are comparatively easier to handle.

MAP08 Triplet II: Triplet II might as well be three completely separate maps joined by a hub. It's in tribute to Jim Flynn's Triplet, from the Enigma Episode, but it only really shows in a few sections, most notably the yellow key hub. You can conquer the map areas in any order but you have to return to the main room with all three keys in order to exit. The red wing is a nice mountain base with a dangerous key guardian. The final fight is a bit tricky as well. The yellow key wing is the Flynn loveletter, with an elevator / switch puzzle followed up with a pretty big homage in the main room, a superstructure emerging from the ground as well as the imp tunnels. The structure fight is pretty obnoxious but you get two soul spheres, one before and one after, so it's all good. The blue key wing has a very dangerous circular fight with a number of revenants. It's aided by an invulnerability, but still pretty tricky to clear the upper tier. The highlight is a color-coded puzzle. I'm still miffed that Valkiriforce caved and put numbers on the platforms, but I'm also amused as people still ask for the solution. All in all, a very fun map, and it's loaded with tons of secrets.

MAP09 Fracture: Very small tecbhase map apparently inspired by Sverre Kvernmo's Derelict Station, which would explain the short ruined section to the west. It's actually a pretty tough map; you'll feel underarmed until you find the plasma rifle or SSG / Rocket Launcher teleporter. There are a few chaingunners gumming up the hallways but more importantly a squad of mancubi in the red key room (ammo sponges and no easy assault) as well as the catwalk sandwhiched between two pillars of revenants (and a secret room with rockets that dumps more revenants into the red key room). Come to think of it, I bet I you could use those guys to soften up each other... The final battle is my standout encounter, a pair of archviles befuddled by recently slaughtered zombiemen.

MAP10 The Tech Towers: In direct contrast, here is an enormous techbase map. Well, its closest analogue among the classic megaWADs is Memento Mori II's Corporate Hell. It's a network of enormous towers with various makes. The grounds themselves are pretty sparsely populated, but with arachnotrons and mancubi, so they're still pretty dangerous if you ignore them. You might get the impression from the layout that it's pretty open exploration. In reality, you'll have to conquer the towers in a relatively linear series. There are a lot of neat hooks, like stairs building fast in front of you (a Flynn favorite) and some SFX like pseudo-3D bridge and, at the very opening, swinging doors. I'd say my two favorite parts (it's a biiiig level) are the opening tower, which has a nice sequence of dangerous firefights, and the western area inside the outer wall. It's got a concrete block maze that slowly introduces monsters as you flip switches with a couple of very unwelcome surprises, punctuated with quite the love-in at the top of the bloodfall. Oh, and watch out for the deathtrap that is the yellow key area.

MAP11 Hello, Cybie!: This is a very small techbase with a vexing finish. It's got outdoor sections to the north and south, the north of which is absolutely choked with revenants and arachnotrons. Thankfully Valkiriforce has seeded the area with barrels that block movement; it's also possible to cause some infighting with no actual risk to yourself. My favorite fight picks up right after the SSG grab; some bigger monsters get dumped into a crowded room and you have to fight to stay mobile. That trench with the archvile is pretty nice, too, though. I should also mention the existence of a neat-looking treadmill.

MAP12 Armageddon Valley: Very short map that begins in a crashed spaceship, after which you crawl into a network of caves and ruins. It's pretty cramped but pretty safe, though bits like the hell knight room may be a little tricky with the room you have to dodge. The architecture is really nice here, with details like columns just peaking out from the valley walls or the actual network of caves. The standout encounter for me is a teleporting archvile that blinks between several jail cells before winding up in an outside area to plague a chamber ringed by cacodemons. Also of note is the number of secrets packed into this map despite its modest size.

MAP13 Stronghold Earth: A large network of ruins scattered in a mountain range. It may seem like a massive map but at least one section, the southern area, is mostly space. It also looks pretty sharp, especially the eastern ruins and that shattered bridge. There's a lot of good, intense fighting to be had. The opening is a little different, with the three-rocket monsters in wide open areas, but once you get into the ruins you get some tight encounters, namely the big shootout prior to acquiring the red key, though it's stuffed with goodies. One of the tougher moments is a tight corridor showdown with a Cyberdemon, though my favorite bit is a series of monster closets punctuated by an archvile. Also has a nice ending.

MAP14 Tyranny: Very short fortress level that brings to mind Chris Klie's MAP03 from BF_THUD!. There's an outer ring of monsters you should clear, which is pretty straightforward, provided you know where to grab the SSG. The inner ring after raising the drawbridge is a bit more tricky; expect to do a lot of ducking in and out as there are a number of barons and their ilk to clog things up. The meat of the interesting stuff happens in the two key wings (the arrows on the floor evoking shades of MAP08 from the same WAD). I'm not sure how fond I am of the pit shootout but the western area with its hell knight tango is pretty neat. The crux though is in the center aisle, with revenants pouring down the snaking tunnel as you frantically backpedal. Very fun diversion.

MAP15 Blade Runner: This is another take on a Downtown-style level, except there are a row of buildings separated to the north that you will visit on several occasions. The nine main buildings house most of the action and leave you feeling fairly exposed for a good while. Many of the snipers that harry you will be difficult to deal with and a few pockets of resistance are incredibly dangerous (especially the upper floor in the northwestern construct). Some favorite moments include the column building trap and the huge wave of monsters that pours in when you grab the yellow key (pretty fun to bomb the alleyway). Also of note: a tiny tribute to Chris Klie's Catwalk in the middle southern building. The secret exit isn't too terribly hard to find, but it's four switches (and three secrets) deep, so keep your eyes peeled.

MAP31 Metal Mansion: This is a dark metal masterpiece in the style of Flynn and Evans Eternal Doom maps. You will have plenty of secrets to uncover; Krizik's sole concession is that ammo and weapons are not hard to come by (in fact, he gives you nearly everything at the map's beginning!). As you explore, locomotion becomes much easier. The fights aren't that tough but he's stuffed the level full of harder monsters, with the giant catwalk in the center being the star attraction as far as bullet Hell goes (don't take that head on if you can help it). You'll also find a fair number of archviles to contend with. All three keys are accessed via puzzles. More importantly, all three key switches that open the secret exit are hidden as well. Actually, I'm rather fond of both Cyberdemon fights. Overall, this is a good level, but for a niche audience. Know your limits and if you feel you must give up, the normal exit is right at the beginning.

MAP32 Deadlock: This is a small arena-style map where you hit switches, slightly opening up the area and introducing tailored waves of monsters into the battlefield. You get all the weapons at the beginning and there's generally more than enough ammo to take on the opposition. The first real snag will be acquiring the plasma rifle, which sets the tone for the other two major fights, both of which are easily handled (unsurprisingly) by running into main bunker, though the first will require just a little finesse. Very fun!

MAP16 Dark Zone: Short, simple level where you combat four different areas in the order of your choosing from the central hub, a tower in the center of a crater lake. Three of the ancillary areas house keys required to activate three switches in the fourth, which grants access to the rest of the tower (your exit route). The most novel of these scenarios is the yellow key battle, which occurs on a desolate stretch of road where you must battle quite the oncoming force in a narrow area. I hope you've gotten good at dodging mancubi fireballs and revenant rockets! The southwestern hub is a more traditional affair, but no less cramped, and has a neat battle in its sole outdoor area.

MAP17 Fatality: Same basic idea behind Dark Zone, except it's in a tan stone outdoorsy area and most of the hub traveling is done on foot, with the hubs themselves lowering the key pillars found at the beginning. The red key wing features most of the action, where you have to conquer the three parts of another hub (accessed via teleporters) before you open up the rad suits and switch which takes you to the lava tunnels, granting passage to the final room. The aforementioned teleporter hub is kind of cute as the areas you visit play out more like little challenges, with the canyon wall crawl serving as my standout encounter.

MAP18 Sleeping Spirits: This level should be played in a source port that correctly emulates the ghost monster behavior. Why? Well, as you traipse around this gorgeous spooky mansion, you'll be pursued by a sheer force of nature – a pack of spectral imps. It gives quite the air of desperation to your hurried exploration as you search for more rockets to put the last one back in its dusty grave. Likely one of the best moments has you running outside through the thick rain attempting to find some reprieve, only to run into the arms of two hell knights. Once you silence the last bubbling fiend, you're free to enjoy the map at your own pace, marveling at little touches like the TV in one of the quarters. Besides the imps, my standout encounter is predictably the yellow key sequence, which is quite the horde of spirits to have disturbed. Very nice.

MAP19 Dusk Town: Short, kind of outskirts-style map with two courtyards separated by a wall you'll traverse. Whether it's actually a town or not is debatable, but it has its own little features like a tiny crematorium and an office of some kind. It's kind of brutal, with the standout fight occupying in the second courtyard, requiring a bit of infighting to come out mostly unscathed. It's also got a neat little staircase leading to a lookout on the upper tier.

MAP20 One Such Reverie: I have to love a map that encourages indiscriminate plasma rifle usage. This is a more interesting abstract level divided into three parts. The first is a large metal base with a distinct outdoor front and back. The other two, accessed by teleporters, happen in sequence and feature more mountainous terrain, one dominated by a large catwalk over some toxins while the other has a little gate puzzle (pretty easy), later punctuated with a Cyberdemon battle. My personal standout encounter is probably the ambush waiting for you in the main base after hitting the switch at the top of the stairs; the real main focus are the minor puzzles, like getting onto the upper level near the opening or the previously mentioned gate sequence (shades of keep away).

MAP21 Sunrise: Short, straightforward and TOUGH AS NAILS. There's a central arena and a southern wing that houses the blue key that starts the incredibly slow gate to the exit. All the while an army of Hellspawn pours in through two different teleporters in the back. You have two megaspheres at your disposal, but they require a little work. Toss in the pyramid of chaingunners and regardless of where you decide to hunker down, you'll have one Hell of a time defending your position. The big push will occur when a pair of archviles warps in near the end. I would caution against saving all the backpacks to cap your shotgun ammo – you're gonna need those cells and rockets.

MAP22 Egyptian Plains: Very cool Egyptian-style level. Rather than the usual stuff you start out within the pyramid and get to fight your way out, ending in a sewer section. It's a little rough in spots, like one particular commando ambush or the tricky opening room. The real kick in my pants happened near the end of the sewer section, two sharp shocks involving everyone's favorite demon sorceror. Of course, I should know by now not to stroll blindly into what may very often be a trap, but I can't help myself. They're both easy to deal with if you exercise any sort of thought. There's also a surprise fight with a Spiderdemon, which you could have seen coming with the way Krizik was handing out plasma ammo.

MAP23 Cyclone Rider: Very tough map that wouldn't feel out of place in, say, Hell Revealed. The opening is a gauntlet of staged monster encounters, the most dangerous of which is a mixture of cacodemons and pain elementals, which added 100 more monsters to the map alone. There's also a cool Spiderdemon on staggered platforms fight that you can easily game to your advantage. The rest of the map is a dungeon crawl filled with dastardly traps, particularly the yellow key sequence. It's just kick to the face after kick to the face; most of them are basically trivial to clear if you've seen them once, and given enough health, you can probably weather some of the more dangerous ones until you have time to react. Health is at a premium, though, so tread lightly.

MAP24 Sewer System (Arch Vile's Den): Yes, there's kind of a sewer system here and yes, you will fight a number of archies. There aren't that many, though, excepting one quite notable encounter where you hit the den itself. The rest of the map has you sorting through two non-sewer wings to get the blue and yellow keys. The yellow side has an opening battle with a bunch of mancubi that's a pain to sort through but gets you your very own rocket launcher. The blue side showcases more of the sewers, with a nice catwalk through cascading water and a quick above-ground jaunt for a breather (nice to have ammo lying around and not get ambushed). My standout encounter besides the archvile den would be a slow elevator gauntlet. Not particularly lethal, but a shake-up regarding action.

MAP25 Sever Tomorrow: Starts out looking like an arena map based on some crossroads with an opening similar to Cyclone Rider and then quickly distances itself with a long trek through a brick labyrinth to get the red and blue keys. There's some neat features like a pseudo-second floor (complete with faux-3d catwalk) and one of my favorite moments in the WAD, where I pushed an archvile back into a teleporter by hosing him with the plasma rifle, then following him through for a telefrag. It just feels so good. There's a few nasty showdowns that take place in the beginning area; the Spiderdemon was a little tricky but only if you get careless. The Cyberdemon thankfully has a lot of infighting opportunity. All in all, pretty fun.

MAP26 Fallen Angel: Small cave-based level that brings to mind (to me at least) Excavations from Icarus, more due to its cramped layout and final wave of encounters than any lack of ammo. Of particular note is a chokepoint near the exit that's thankfully sectioned off with a monster blocking line, otherwise you'd be busy getting ganged up on by a horde of chaingunners and their archvile masters. As it stands, you'll have to be careful, but not too careful or you'll never punch through the meat shields. I also like the way the SSG pillars are used to facilitate progression halfway through the level.

MAP27 Godspeed!: A Living End style map inspired by PRCP's Terra Incognita, Godspeed brushes aside some of the style's familiar features. No damage floors in the main section, for one (yay!). Also, the map both begins and ends above ground. The rest is tricky but rarely abusive gameplay, with battles like the ridiculous library fight or the southwestern room with the bridge over lava standing out as definite highlights. What makes this map a little more freeform is the fact that you have to find all three keys (in any order you like) as well as find the teleporters to the switches adjacent to the final area, where you get a pretty run of the mill Spiderdemon finale. Very nice play!

MAP28 Turbine Accelerator: This is a large, complex waterworks-style map. It's a bit tough getting going at first because ammo and weapons are scarce, and the proper direction (if indeed there is one) is difficult to divine. The rocket launcher and plasma rifle are all located behind some entrenched opposition, the rifle being the easiest to acquire. Once you've sorted out your ammo problems you're free to enjoy the encounters on their own, like the series of encounters leading up to the red key, or the northwestern courtyard. Unfortunately, Krizik's final trick, a deep water effect at the map's end, neuters the rest of your challenges as none of the monsters outside the water can shoot back at you. Regardless, a cool map.

MAP29 Salvation: If this is what Valkiriforce dreams about, I shudder to consider his nightmares. This is a kind of arena-style fight based in a simple square area with a walled-off circle in the center. All the armaments are provided to you; the main challenge begins with the four Cyberdemons stomping around the ring, exacerbated every time you activate a key pillar, which dumps a new wave of monsters into the fight. I mean, you could take the Cyberdemons out at the beginning, but my successful attempt kept them alive until the end as a useful distraction. The first two waves are straight up revenants, with the second two mixing archviles in. I'm not sure how you'd tackle the fourth wave outside of saving the invulnerability for that moment, as the third was bad enough. Pretty tough and rewards strategic thinking.

MAP30 Final Doom: Krizik's finale resembles more Evilution's “Last Call” than boss shooters of yore by putting a substantial amount of gameplay before the Icon of Sin. It's a surreal map that begins on a house surrounded by water, taking you through caverns and halls including suspended animation commandos, followed by an enormous atmospheric hallway with four pairs of monsters. It's a little tricky, especially considering the second two pairs, but easy once you have it figured out. The boss shooter itself is pretty straightforward, though Krizik has given the IOS a fair bit of health, making your delicate balance on the pillar more annoying than usual, especially as he is so kind to seed the arena with a pair of pain elementals, among other nuisances. At least you don't have to time your shots! A great ending.

Phil's Infested Compound (PHILPLU.WAD)

2012-01-23T00:08:00.000-06:00

PHIL'S INFESTED COMPOUND
(by “Philnemba”)

Phil's Infested Compound is an outtake from the Plutonia Revisited Community Project. Since the map didn't make the cut for the main event, Doomworld forum superstar Philnemba uploaded it as a standalone work. As one could guess, it's a remake of Plutonia's MAP17, Compound, whose slot this map occupies. When playing Phil's offering, I got a very familiar feeling, similar to several other PRCP works. I've played a lot of maps since Plutonia, but this homage (more or less) brings me back. I'll mention a few of the references I recalled, but looking around there are more that completely escaped me.

The first thing that caught my attention was the room with the raised walkway, encountered early on in both works. In Plutonia, it was a #. A little tricky to maneuver on. Here, it's a big ol' swastika. It makes a lot of the chaingunners hard to take down with the SSG; you'll probably want to snipe away with the normal shotty until you can grab one of theirs. Another thing I mostly remembered was the section with a ton of imps and a few archviles. It's a mob fight, though I think the one in Plutonia was executed with teleporters. There are actually a few archviles to kick around this map; you'll want to take them out asap, like biting through a Tootsie pop to get to its chocolate center.

It's not a particularly hard map, with a few exceptions. The prevalence of damage floors isn't that harassing as there are enough enviro suits to get by unless you're strolling or something. There are two big fights you want to watch out for. The first has a revenant army backed by an archvile. Sure, you get a BFG right beforehand, but you probably won't be able to blitz through the skeletons without eating some mandatory rocket boots, and taking cover may end up wasting precious cell ammo. The other has two Cyberdemons in a pretty tight space. I didn't have a plasma rifle, so you're gonna have to make the best of whatever cell ammo you can find. Hopefully you're good at BFG bumping Cybies.

Phil's Infested Compound is pretty good fun and wouldn't be out of place among all the other maps found in Plutonia Revisited. The aesthetics are quite nice, with great usage of the PRCP textures. I think the strength of its homage is the main reason it failed to make the cut. It's a shame, but what can you do? I mean, besides download and play this map, which if you love the Hell out of Plutonia (or its various progeny) you should. Really, unless you detest the Casali style, it's worth experiencing (or, heh, re-experiencing).

EAT AT PHIL'S

Whoops

2012-01-20T04:10:00.000-06:00

Damn, I posted my buffer a day early. Whatever, Riot Control is pretty good, DD. I'm sorry I bumped you from the top so soon.

Sin City (SIN2_9.WAD)

2012-01-20T00:19:00.000-06:00

Sin City is a nine-map episode for Doom II by Kurt Maples. From what I can gather, it existed in a variety of versions, each one adding more levels until this final, 9-map edition, released in '95. At the very least, levels 6-8 were produced after 1-5, and 9 was added to this set as a topper. The difference in mapping quality shows, too. The later offerings aren't knockouts, but they're better overall than the first segment, featuring better layouts, better action, and more cohesion. Overall, if there's one design element Maples falls back on, it's mazey corridors. He escapes this mapping trope in some of the later offerings, but if you should load up Sin City, put on your Theseus cap.

That's not the only thing that distinguishes this level set as a whole. You'll chance across many encounters where YOU get the drop on the monster, something I haven't seen much of if at all in Doom PWADs. Maples is also fond of some fairly gratuitous backtracking. In several instances you'll have to return to the very beginning of the map – quite a trek – or run through the same maze several times with little opposition to make subsequent journeys thrilling. To his credit, in a few cases he lays down measures that allow you to skip some of the duller parts, but in general you'll get to know these hallways quite well.

What sets this WAD apart from others in particular is a batch of new graphics and sounds that give the levels a...unique aesthetic. Dark green marble and bright orange metal make their debuts in this mapset, among other things. There are also some new false wall graphics, like the satanic spider's web or the burning Sin City banner that serves as a starting gate for most, if not all, his maps. Sounds are a curious mix of wholly new material and stranger decisions. Astute players will notice that many of the monster noises have been reversed, giving them an alien yet familiar quality. I kind of wish he'd included the reversed Icon of Sin message as a joke.

The WAD isn't particularly difficult to clear, excepting perhaps a scenario Maples intended to be untenable (“If you can get 100% kills on this level in Ultra Violence you cheated”), and a number of secrets containing must-have weaponry like rocket launchers and plasma rifles. Levels 06-09 are I think worth a play, but I recommend that persnickety users avoid this mapset. For a series of works that claim to draw inspiration from AC/DC, they're done dirt cheap.

SIN CITY

(by Kurt Maples)

MAP01 Riff Raff: Small but dense fortress-style level that showcases a lot of the new graphics and sounds. Except for the few beasts around the castle exterior, it's a claustrophobic affair, with a lot of the map devoted to some maze-like corridors. The fights are more or less okay, with a pair of archviles outside the yellow door room (though you should be well-equipped to handle them). While most of the new visuals aren't obnoxious, there's one particular eyesore, a bright orange techwall room with SS Troopers dotting the columns raising out of the water.

MAP02 Let There Be Rock: A bizarre dungeon map with plenty of walkthru walls and secret crannies. In fact, the yellow key is quite visibly located within a secret. Otherwise, you're presented with two options. Everything to your right is optional, but if you don't want to fall prey to an archvile ghost machine, you should go right to pick up the rocket launcher (in a secret, no less). The left route has the meat of the map, including the aforementioned ghost generator, but nothing too dangerous except for the final encounter. Easy to just speed through, but if you want to finish it out, you'll have to make a gutsy invulnerability grab or just dodge rockets until you get some decent cover.

MAP03 Shoot to Thrill: Basically another subterranean slog much like MAP02. Long, bizarrely colored hallways and mostly fair to middling action. The plasma rifle, essential equipment for a complete run, is locked behind a hidden yellow key, whose door trigger occurs sometime after passing the door in question. Some awful texture errors, especially in the rocket launcher room. The climax is a huge battle that occurs over the Doom logo, with about eight cyberdemons and thirty pain elementals teleporting in, among other things, when you step onto the exit platform. If you want a full kill tally, be prepared for a lot of tedious infighting and make sure to plan your ammo pickups.

MAP04 Hells Bells: A bit of an improvement over the previous three maps. Some attention to lighting and less proliferation of bizarre textures. It's still a stark contrast between long corridors, mazes, and empty, wide-open spaces. One particularly nice bit Maples puts in allows you to circumvent the crate gauntlet near the beginning of the level, with the relevant areas also serving to release some more monsters at the player. The downside is, after you've grabbed the red key, you have to walk through the entire level again to get to the exit door. I do like the Cyberdemon shelf, though.

MAP05 Night Prowler: A rectangular level featuring a large, rectangular fortress. The outside is kind of neat with a nukage channel in the northeast but the rest of it is bland bland bland. When you get inside it's basically the same mazey, corridor gameplay from previous maps, except this time with plenty of stairs to kind of vary things up. Biggest pet peeves... All the secrets are wallhumping secrets. One of them is locked off if you hit an important switch in the room. Also, I have no idea what is up with that demon / crusher room. Standout encounter would be the final room, which is okay and tosses some barons at you. Also, the room immediately after escaping the dark gray maze does a good job of sneaking some spectres in on you.

MAP06 Bedlam in Belgium: Some steps forward and some steps backward. While Maples falls back on his tried and tepid mazes for a lot of this map, to his credit, he manages to nail it in the opening sequence, a pit of blood-soaked dark green stone whose crannies you can either explore or bypass by simply hitting the switch that raises you to the next level. You exit into a neat arena, which annoyingly features two Cyberdemons behind false walls that take some time to bring down, given that you can't actually see where they are, only where the rockets are coming from at any given moment. The rest is, well, mazey, though there's a decent underground cavern. Also confusing: the exit switch is located back in the blood pit, which you already had to go back to once for the red key. And a few deathtraps, including a secret that, if you linger, will trap you forever.

MAP07 Go Down: Even better! This map's star attraction is a large outer yard in which some battlements have been placed, with a small watchtower loaded with munitions and then a larger, castle-like structure. The fighting is okay but you'll be hitscanned-sniped to Hell, including a false wall concealing a row of the buggers. After crossing a neat bridge, Maples drops you in another maze-ish area, but the fights are more interesting, including a nasty ambush as well as an archvile battle, and it's much shorter. Standout encounter: a cacodemon secret ambush you are hilariously overprepared for. I guess the giant blood pyramid is okay, too, but it's quite anticlimactic.

MAP08 Hell or High Water: A strange but interesting romp set mostly in a light green stone cavern with blood channels raised above some spectre-laced nukage. The very opening occurs above ground and features a small, derelict building with some up-close fighting, but nothing spectacular. The rest of the map is, you guessed it, a length of corridors linking the two segments together. While they're not thrilling, the blood channel makes up for it. Standout encounter is probably a cacodemon blitz similar to the secret in MAP07, as well as a tricky Cyberdemon fight.

MAP09 The Sin City Level: The final map in the Sin City episode is, appropriately enough, Sin City. A medium-size Downtown style map, it features some of the more interesting layouts Maples has to offer, including some enemy columns. One of the neater buildings has a gauntlet through several raised gates that's necessary in order to access a rocket launcher, and has a tricky trap, especially if you didn't grab the plasma rifle, located elsewhere. Fights aren't that memorable except for a token Cyberdemon fight which sticks out among otherwise tepid action. Standout moment: the hanging corpse crusher stashed away in a secret area in the northeast.

THE VIDEO GAME SAYS PLAY ME
FACE IT ON A LEVEL BUT IT TAKES YOU EVERY TIME
ON A ONE AND ONE
FEELING RUNNIN DOWN YOUR SPINE
NOTHIN GONNA SAVE YOUR ONE LAST DIME CAUSE IT OWNS YOU
THROUGH AND THROUGH

Riot Control (RTCTRL.WAD)

2012-01-18T07:37:00.000-06:00

Riot Control is a four-map minisode for Doom II and Boom-compatible ports by Doomworld forum superstar Dutch Devil. The project started out with him playing around with textures from the original Quake, only intending to make a few maps, but he was inspired enough to round the set out at four (the whole set produced over more than two years). They're not very long, with even the largest of the four feeling medium at best, and not too terribly difficult, the main limiting factor being health. Dutch has included no story, with the action speaking for itself. You're a marine infiltrating a series of outposts located in a mountain range.

Dutch Devil's style of base is impeccable, as demonstrated elsewhere (his “Substation” in Doom 2 Unleashed). The lighting and detailing are magnificent and keep your eyes busy without being distracting. The only real problem is that the internal consistency of the man-made structures is unerring, though wonderfully detailed. Suffice it to say that the bases themselves aren't that interesting; the architecture that makes each map distinct to me lies in the outdoor areas. Don't get me wrong, they're very well designed and pleasing to the eye. The character of all these Quakebases is pretty much the same, however, as if constructed from the same palette of hallway segments, snapped together like wonderful lego bricks.

It's trademark Dutch Devil gameplay, with enemies lurking behind every corner and crate, and a healthy dose of teleport ambushes. They're generally the combat highlights of each map as your initial clears feature mostly incidental combat while exploring. Weapon progression is pretty solid, with Dutch introducing weapons as secrets in the map prior to where they become normally available. The changes in armament match the gradual introduction of enemies, beginning with the old standbys and ending with a cavalcade of Doom II's enemies, excepting the big two, who were probably booked for Slaughterfest 2011.

If you like Dutch Devil's maps, or like WADs that use Quake textures, or just want to play some nice base WADs with a different appearance, Riot Control is a nice, quick set of maps that will calm the shakes. If you hate the color brown, then you should probably sit back and wait for the release of Back to Saturn X. If you're undecided, it couldn't hurt to try it! Unless you're playing with broken hands or something, in which case, why are you trying to play anything?

RIOT CONTROL
(by Dutch Devil)

MAP01: Short base-style level that's two outdoor areas connected by two tiered hallways separated by a blue key door. It's mostly zombiemen, sergeants and imps, with a few demons and a pair of commandos sitting in command chairs near the end. Texturing and lighting are quite gorgeous. The only encounter that sticks out in my mind is a trap sprung when you've grabbed the blue key, where you can't make a clean escape. Kind of tough, only because of the zombiemen / health ratio.

MAP02: Same style of base, except with an intermediary sewer section that's aided along by conveniently placed rad suits. You'll have to fight back several Dutch Devil-style assault waves at predictable moments, with one of the better ones involving demons and spectres. Both secrets cause an inundation of Hellspawn as well. I think the health is a bit more plentiful on this map, making it a bit less difficult. Also, you get the SSG! (And the rocket launcher if you're clever.) The outdoor areas are kind of fun to play around in.

MAP03: The defining feature of this techbase is a giant lake of molten lava with a ruined tower in the center. The rest of the base isn't so interesting, though Dutch introduces strange jail cell-esque rooms. The coolest bit involves climbing up the side of the mountainous terrain to the blue key, after which you jump to the lonely tower. Flipping the switch unleashes a pack of monsters back where you came from, but more importantly calls three mancubi to pin you down at various spots around the rim of the lake. The revenant debuts here to great effect; the corridors give you plenty of room to dodge, even if you're surprised. Just don't spaz out too much.

MAP04: The big one! Well, it's still a medium-size level. The star attraction of Dutch's finale is a large canyon in the center of the map. It's not exactly choked but there are plenty of enemies stomping around the outside that you'll want to keep cover. A cavern opens up at the end for the push to the exit which takes you to the volcanically active underground. Combat is a step up as well, with some cool traps like a spider in a wall (which you can use to take down the rest of the ambush!) and several archviles to make things interesting. One of the tougher encounters involves two revenants in a semi-circle hallway with not a lot of room to maneuver. It's very good fun, with plenty of ammo to cut down the invading demons. A nice finale.

THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON

Where Serpents Ever Dwell (SERPENTS.WAD.WAD)

2012-01-16T00:03:00.001-06:00

WHERE SERPENTS EVER DWELL
(by Adrian “DeathevokatioN” Hanekom)

Here's another map for Heretic, this one from Adrian Hanekom, aka Doomworld forum superstar DeathevokatioN. It replaces E1M1 (with an early version replacing E4M1) and indeed is a little E1M1-ish in its appearance. The story is fairly standard, with Corvus stepping into what he believes to be the portal home only to wind up, you guessed it, fighting more of D'Sparil's monstrosities. Of course, you have to wonder how bad he really has it. I mean, he spends his days traveling to dimensions I doubt he's ever dreamed of, using magical weaponry to tear apart manifestations of evil (which has got to give him at least a vague sense of ethical fulfillment), and it sounds like he knows how to have a good laugh every now and then. Plus I bet he's fallen into his fair share of Boris Vallejo paintings (NSFW).

Anyway, Where Serpents Ever Dwell is a pretty good Heretic showcase. There's no Phoenix Rod and no weredragons, but the rest of the regulars get trotted out. It's also pretty tough, which the author warns in the readme. It's not quite so hard that you'll burn all your ammo in addition to the powerups, but it'll be a good while before you're comfortable with your ammo situation. Part of this is due to a more intimate setting. The playing area is fairly constrained, which makes the 150 or so monsters crammed inside more dangerous than usual. Add to that Hanekom's careful balance of resources, which prevents you from removing the projectile-throwing enemies in the main area until much later in the map, and you have a lethal concoction.

The opening fight is a pretty good example. You have easy access to the ethereal crossbow, but the starting platform is loaded with enemies, with no safe place to retreat. Even a jump into the moat will let loose another crop of nasties upon your exit, a mix of disciples and gargoyles that only add to your confusion. There's also (understandably) a wave of disciples unleashed upon grabbing the Hellstaff, which might make things more interesting depending on how thorough you were in dispatching the enemies already hanging around, given your ammo situation. I think there was a wave of disciples let into the central area, too, but I kind of cheesed that from a window with the tome of power and the gauntlets (hey, I needed the health!).

Some fun encounters that don't bust your balls... There's the teleport to the blue key area. You end up standing behind a pack of still sleeping warriors while a group of ophidian guards spots you. The clever Corvus will let the ophidians do some of the work for him. The final fight could offer some possible problems, given the presence of an iron lich in addition to some other nasties, but there's a ton of Hellstaff ammo nearby and probably enough room to dodge those deadly balls of frost magic. The rest of the map is pretty standard, even down to the gargoyles making quite a nuisance as they wander around.

Aesthetically there are a few nice touches. The lighting is subtle but very nice and there's a use of the teleportation effect on a statue in the main yard that gives it a unique look. Finally, in the exit room, there's a vista with a giant river-carved canyon complete with waterfall (and some more fortress area immediately adjacent to you) that help give the map a sense of scope beyond being a simple one-off. Altogether, it's a great experience if you're looking for more Heretic maps to play and don't mind being challenged. I highly recommend it!

Heretic: Call of the Apostate (APOSTATE.WAD)

2012-01-13T00:02:00.000-06:00

Doomworld forum superstar Vordakk, aka Stormwalker, gives us another opportunity to play the only elf worth playing with Heretic: Call of the Apostate. It's a sequel to Heretic and replaces its third episode in DECORATE-abled ports (specifically (G)ZDoom and Vavoom, though Vordakk recommends the former). The story picks up after Corvus returns to his homeworld, which still lingers under some shadow of evil. There he catches rumor of the existence of a necromantic abomination capable of resurrecting the Serpent Riders should they perish at the hands of a mortal – the Apostate. Gripping his elven wand, he prepares to hunt down the undoubtedly resurrected D'Sparil, and afterward, his previously silent partner.

Why DECORATE? It's a question you may find yourself asking while you play through these very classic-looking maps. Vordakk's intent was to recreate in part the feel of the first three episodes in the first nine maps, in part due to the storyline and perhaps in part as tribute. They're not really carbon copies, though. The level layouts are generally less intricate and more wide-open, with grand architecture abounding. Rather than clearing sets of enemies from smaller rooms, most of your work will be done against armies of D'Sparil's returned minions. I don't think I could call any of these maps anything less than straight-forward, excepting maybe E3M7 and a minor portion of E3M9.

They're also quite challenging, especially from p- er, wand start. I would say that Vordakk succeeded in tuning these maps appropriately. As mentioned, you'll be facing many large groups of monsters, with the stakes rising as you proceed, until it feels a bit like a Hell Revealed-lite, but with Heretic's bestiary. The final normal level packs in over 400 enemies, all tough customers; quite a ways away from the relatively sedate opening. Do not expect to be coddled. I will say that his first two boss fights aren't all that challenging, but the rest of the maps pack quite a punch, and the layouts of the latter two showdowns make them appropriately threatening.

The DECORATE, I believe, is for your final opponent, but if having to use either source port (possibly Eternity in the near future) is a dealbreaker, don't let it be. APOSTATE is a very nice addition for Heretic, and we get so few of them that I think it's best we appreciate what we have. If you'd like a nice set of maps where you can tackle tons of magical horrors head-on, you should play this WAD. Just be on the lookout; some of these secrets are a bitch to find.

HERETIC:
CALL OF THE APOSTATE
(by “Vordakk” aka "Stormwalker")

E3M1 Reliquary: Short and sweet E1 style map with a river and a nice little palace. Combat is pretty standard, and while taking down a pack of four golems with the elven wand isn't very exciting, Heretics have to start somewhere. My favorite encounter involves the crossbow grab, which presents you with an immediate opportunity to make good use of it.

E3M2 Village Outskirts: More of a medium-size map with two classic-style Heretic buildings separated by a river with a nice bridge. The first half is all elven wand, aided along by some handy gauntlets. You won't get to play with the crossbow until you lower the roadblock, but from then on it's smooth sailing. There's a few cool moments, like when a cadre of evil pops out of the lake. Really, all of the memorable action occurs in the north side, particularly the gargoyle reveal in the main chamber (which has some really nice lighting) or the corridor fight in the final approach.

E3M3 Temple of the Arcane: Tough gauntlet-style map (not literally a gauntlet) in a temple (duh) with nice, grand architecture. There are two instances where you're bombed by waves of disciples. The first isn't too hard as you're given plenty of cover to work around, but the second is a bit tricky as it's in a mostly open area, which also has a good crossfire going when you first arrive. The room with four altars has a nice mix of enemies, on top of looking very nice, but as dense as it's packed you really have to stir shit up, duck outside, and take them as they come until it clears out a bit. The final battle is against a horde of iron liches. It's not very interesting, though, just circle-strafing through the columns and hoping you don't get caught up on any lurking tornadoes.

E3M4 Wizard's Stronghold: A nice, large introduction to the Hell's Maw chapter. It's a fortress located between two channels of lava with a glacial area to the north with toxic runoff. Architecture is again focused more on scope than minute details. Combat has some nice changes, like the fight down the lava river or the battle between two liches at the map's end. This also marks the first appearance of the Hellstaff, a welcome addition to the arsenal. It's not terribly helpful against one of the more tense situations, though, where grabbing the blue key subjects you to two hordes of disciples. You'll have to prioritize one of the two masses or, failing that, find a chokepoint somewhere else and take them on Diablo-style.

E3M9 Forgotten Chapel: This one is based in a large canyon that leads to the eponymous chapel. It's got a cool opening where monsters spring out of some nearby graves as you find yourself in quite the melee. Things only get more ridiculous when you grab the yellow key as an army of sabreclaws appears to swarm your position. I especially like the battlements / lava pits to the northeast, which has among other things a dangerous fight with an iron lich due to lack of mobility followed up by a hectic shootout in a chamber with a nasty (but obvious) trap. Actually, the iron liches seem particularly ubiquitous in hairy situations, like the pair in the blue key room or by that staircase leading up to the mystic urn ledge. Great fights and great architecture.

E3M5 Castle of Sorrow: You begin in a lava tube which dumps out into a gargantuan outdoor chasm with several tiers. The ruins prior to the exit have a pretty nice fight, with an army of disciples, warriors and an iron lich, but most of the action takes place in the chasm climb. There's a healthy number of monsters on each level who pepper you with projectiles as you fight your way to each teleporter, making your way jaunt by jaunt until you arrive at the gates of the castle itself. It's no picnic, with sneaky weredragon fireballs coming from seemingly every angle and nitrogolem blasts arriving at a constant stream. The end of minisode battle pits you against three maulotaurs at a time. It's not that hard as you're given plenty of room and both the Hellstaff and Phoenix Rod, but it's a neat finale.

E3M6 The Unholy Font: Kicking off the Dome of D'Sparil section with a compact but difficult adventure. Your first challenge comes at the onset, where an already taxing crossfire turns into a complete brawl when you snag the Hellstaff (which I admit I missed my first time in the area). Things get tricky as Vordakk starts to make use of push sectors, with the green key climb being quite slippery, while undead warriors chuck axes at you. Kicking around in the sewers is comparatively sedate, excepting the main cistern firefight. My biggest challenge was the return to the huge staircase on the map's eastern side. There's about twenty disciples let loose into a huge, now darkened hallway. If you vault past them like me, the absence of light doesn't make confronting them at the chokepoint that much easier. After that, the maulotaur fight is kind of anticlimactic.

E3M7 Raedamon's Gorge: Dumps the previous level styles for a sprawling caldera flooded with water. The opening area is bullet Hell as monsters on the ground and from various sides of the gorge fire upon you. It kind of reminds me of Hell Revealed's “City in the Clouds”; all of the weapons are tucked away behind enemy lines and you have to wrest them from the opposition. As if the crossfire wasn't enough, you'll return to find it seeded with some more monsters on a few occasions, like a maulotaur, or a swarm of ophidians. When you've caught your breath, you can begin exploring the side-areas, also filled with dangerous encounters, like the yellow key wing's firing lines or a very memorable cloud of gargoyles. Pretty tough, but very cool (and a little exhausting).

E3M8 Shrine of the Serpent Rider: It's basically just a boss map with a nice lead-in, but the limited real estate makes D'Sparil a tough foe. Summoned disciples can crowd things up pretty good, especially when you have to dodge those lethal lighting bolts.

E2M1 The Apostate's Lair: Same as E3M8. The Apostate hails from Realm 667, otherwise known as the Avatar. He's a completely different beast than the Heresiarch. Take careful note of the crenelations housing health vials along the walls; they are vital to your survival. The room layout in combination with the Apostate's abilities create a fantastic boss fight and a great way to end the episode.

THE APOSTATE IS CALLING
BUT CORVUS ISN'T HOME

1994 Tune-up: Before and After

2012-01-11T05:47:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are side-by-side comparisons of the layouts of all the 1994 Tune-up entries. Have fun spotting the differences and similarities!

Bittersweet

Taredone

Hyper-Vyper

Hades' House of Horrors, Part 1

BSC01

Hades' House of Horrors, Pt. 2

Dead Temple

Helipad

Bug Hunt!

Melange v2

Elements

Rawnwood

The Unwilling

COMCON2

Cratebase

Infinity Plus

Tunnels

Subway Redux

Undersea

Outlands

Return to Ultima

Retour en le Nefarious Chateau

BSC03

Fortified Castle

Fort Borg

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood?

WetWorkD2

The Nightmare

The Castle Invaded by Hell

Pure Evil

Original Sin

Cyberpie

Doxylamine Moon: Overdose (OVERDOSE.WAD)

2012-01-09T00:09:00.001-06:00

(by "Lainos")

Overdose is Russian Doomer Lainos's attempt to make Sacrament's infamous MAP02 palatable to a broader variety of Doomers. Spoilers: If you dislike the original because it was enormous and wide open, offering little direction to the player, Overdose won't take you any higher. If you gave up because he effectively disabled the automap, though, you can rest easy. Like the original, the map is made for limit-removing ports. PrBoom+ is the recommended engine, especially given the sprite-intensive city landscape. The story takes place after the action of Sacrament (hinted at by the blood red moon). The protagonist awakes after overdosing in a museum (more like a private art gallery) and finds the apocalypse in full swing, with the twisted bodies of the unworthy clamoring for your blood. You grab a shotgun and attempt to find your way out of the accursed city.

For those who haven't played the original, the city is immense with carefully arranged lamps lighting it up, a few visitable buildings, and plenty of streets and alleyways. Most of the architecture is internally consistent, with a great host of textures to illustrate his urban jungle. There's a lot of ground to cover, and apart from the already mentioned locales, you'll find a large city park, a small grocery store, several apartment blocks, a few buildings whose purposes are unclear, and a beautiful fountain in the northern section. The most numerous smaller decorations include dumpsters, benches, and a few terraces. Lainos made some major expansions to his city, chiefly the western section. There's a bridge leading to a neighborhood across the river as well as a gorgeous riverfront walk and a railroad terminal (the map's exit, leading to a small buffer map with a neat effect).

Lainos has also blocked access to the two areas most relevant to the map's previous incarnation, the apartment and Clan [B0S]'s base. They remain intact, however, which leads to my major nitpick with his remodeling. Doxylamine Moon: Overdose is a map about exploratory, slightly sandbox-style gameplay. While he has prevented any entrance to the areas, there are at least three linedefs you can activate in the northern courtyard (which originally led to the Clan base). The biggest oversight is the presence of the blue key switch, which only serves as a red herring that frustrates players. I don't know what I would have done with the existing architecture, though. Maybe leave a key in the Clan [B0S] base that allows entrance to Sacrament's apartment? Maybe not required to exit, but it could be a neat easter egg.

The biggest concession made was toward people who found Doxylamine Moon boring for lack of opposition, toward the tune of 150 more misbegotten souls to shoot up. Combat is largely incidental, though, compared to traditional Doom gameplay, which is often carefully staged. Monsters that litter the gorgeous city streets awake, often without the player directly seeing them, and slowly make their way to your position. This may not seem dangerous until you realize Lainos's careful balance of terror. The monsters aren't numerous enough for you to be consciously wary but are also in sufficient number and force to be real threats if ignored. The closest comparison I can make is to some of the original Doom levels (where monsters often roam around the map layouts, surprising the player) except with much more real estate. The advantage is often the player's as there is plenty of room to flee if he or she runs into an encounter without adequate resources.

The placement of health and ammo reflect the same style of gameplay. you'll find little bits (with larger caches) spread out, with the most care given to the location of the major weapons. My favorite bit awards the player with the chaingun via a carefully orchestrated commando ambush upon exiting an explored building. It's quite clever. As far as other fights go, only a few come to mind. The whole approach to the yellow key and return constitute the most action-packed segment of the map, with the dense foliage obscuring enemies near and projectiles far as you attempt to take cover. There's also a surprise fight between two pain elementals that can quickly turn lethal if you're lacking munitions and several pairs of revenants that might sneak up on you.

Lainos made some changes to Doxylamine Moon, but Overdose hasn't altered its overall character, save for the addition of more monsters, which turns it from a haunting experience to something more menacing. If you preferred the original, it's not as though he's paved over his contribution to Sacrament. Furthermore, it's refreshing to me to play something that's so unlike Doom's regular gameplay, and I'm looking forward to any more followups in this series. I would recommend Overdose to you if you enjoyed the original, like very non-linear maps, or just want some candy to feast your eyes on. Otherwise, you will be better served looking elsewhere. There are countless other authors who create a more traditional Doom experience, provided you want to chase that demon.

1994 Tune-up Community Project (1994TU.WAD)

2012-01-06T04:03:00.004-06:00

The 1994 Tune-up Community Project started with a simple concept. The general opinion of WADs from Doom's earliest era is not glowing; most 1994 maps are considered crude by today's standards. The disparity in appearance and playability is attributable to any number of sources, but Doomworld forum superstar Snarboo presented an interesting idea for a project, assisted along by GreyGhost and Travers Dunne. Rather than bitch about how awful '94 WADs are, why not take the ones authors released free to modify and renovate them? The target was limit-removing and Boom-compatible, freeing mappers from the dreaded visplane specter and allowing for a limited number of “advanced” features. The only caveat was to avoid rendreing the layouts of the original maps unrecognizable, though contributors were free to make their own additions, provided they not increase the map's size by more than 100%. As a general rule.

As could be expected, there is no story to the overall collection, though many of the maps have little narratives in their original .TXTs (included along with the original WADs in the total package). Map styles progress about as can be expected, with smaller, easier levels in the beginning and larger, more difficult levels toward the end. The secret maps are everything that should occupy those slots. The overall appearance of the works tend toward techbase, which I can only assume is a byproduct of '94-'95 sensibilities. You will see some more exotic locales, though, including underground dungeons, city blocks, and fortresses of various materials. There are things here worth seeing...and at least one thing you'll wish you could unsee.

To be honest, I played none of these maps in their original incarnations. Glancing at map comparisons (available here), I can say that the amount of changes in each level varies greatly. Aesthetically, they're much improved from their counterparts, as a glance at the intermission screenshots can attest. This isn't necessarily a result of an overdose of filigrees, though. Some authors use lighting to make their maps quite breathtaking, and sometimes a simple re-texturing job does wonders. I couldn't tell how much Boom pervades these works. I noticed some instances of voodoo doll scripting (very nice!) and translucent walls as well as deep water, and maybe a scattered few instances of motion floors.

As far as action goes, you have your work cut out for you. Few of these maps are slaughters, tending toward more traditional, even OG Doom gameplay. You'll find yourself making good use of the shotgun and chaingun, sometimes to the effect that it kills the pacing of of some maps if you're more into the run and gun style. Players who prefer to battle against overwhelming odds will be right at home, however. It's kind of like carrying Doom's style of pressure to Doom II's larger bestiary. Of course, if you're playing the maps with carryovers, you'll hardly notice this detail. The pistol starts have carefully crafted for each level, especially works like “Return to Ultima” and “The Nightmare”. I sometimes (often) whine about having to shotgun mancubi and arachnotrons (and the occasional baron) but I'm conscious that it's a clash of gameplay styles. Not every map reflects the feel of Doom 1.5, and I must confess that the SSG is just an incredibly comfortable weapon for me.

1994TU is pretty good. It underwent some criticism due to its design goals, especially when the expanded features were added to the mix. Personally, 2011 was a year focused mainly on vanilla-compatible projects (though I admit that seven of the Cacoward winners require a source port of some kind). Doom Core, a megaWAD by Valkiriforce, was pared down from Boom to vanilla. It's nice to see a megaWAD that went the opposite direction. Achieving balance, if you will. I don't think 1994TU has to compare to its base material. The participants each took a raw idea and made it the core of their own work. Perhaps it's a bit disingenuous to call it a tune-up in some places, but I hardly see any of these authors slam-dunking these maps in the faces of their originators, whatever the text of the README may imply. If you want some excellent looking Doom II maps with some added frills, or are at all interested in what map concepts from '94 might (emphasis MIGHT) look like today, look no further.

1994 TUNE-UP
COMMUNITY PROJECT
(by assorted authors)

MAP01 Bitter-Sweet (by James Bearden, ed. “Mr. Freeze” and “Krispavera”): Very short brown techbase with a couple of rough patches. It's got a spiral structure that has you start at the center and work your way around until you teleport back to the beginning. Then the level opens up and you think you're gonna flip a switch and reveal something. Nope; teleport to an outdoor section. Lighting is very nice and most of the detailing seems to be chunks taken out of the walls. The red cable is particularly eye-catching, but the main attraction is when things get weird at the end of the spiral. Standout encounter is the fight with a revenant and two chaingunners which forces both cover use and mobility.

MAP02 Taredone (by Brad “Bilbo” Spencer, ed. Chris “Codennium Red” Oliveri): Fun and fast blue techbase that's pretty linear but with nonstop action. It's mostly lightweight monsters, dispatching the various zombiemen and imps with the shotgun. The cacodemon reveal in the circular room with pulsing veins on the ceiling was a nice touch, and the slightly non-rad suit section left just a hint of environmental danger. My standout encounter was the penultimate fight with two pain elementals; enough of a shock to startle you but enough breathing room to react in a non-embarrassing manner. Detailing was very nice; the lighting especially caught my eye.

MAP03 Hyper-Vyper (by Shane aka “Ash”, ed. Travers Dunne): A short but challenging (and awesome) techbase with some cool bits like the main room area with its grated walls and the toxic piping, not to mention the lights. Among the tougher encounters is the chainsaw section, which puts you between a rock and several hard places, especially if you head there first off (low ammo). There's also a wave of monsters triggered when opening access to the yellow key. You'll have to handle enemies on two fronts, so take care. My favorite segment, though, puts you on the “roof” of the building, lowering a soul sphere which is then accessible on the ground floor after jumping down some duct work.

MAP04 Hades House of Horrors – Part 1 (by Robert Zubek, ed. “Mr. Freeze”): Partly a more organic affair with wood and stone and dense tangled roots, with a bizarre modern interjection complete with a helipad. It's got horrors, particularly the yellow key room and the ground floor entrance, a grisly mausoleum worthy of Bluebeard. It's a bit of a tense situation as you're fighting shotgunners in the dark. My standout encounter is a pretty simple fight with a baron complicated by the damage blood floor at your back. If you don't find the hidden SSG (pretty easy, actually) then you'll be further distressed by an arms restriction. Pretty fun, if a little schizoid.

MAP05 BSC01 (by Brian and Craig Sparks, ed. “Masayan”): Very fun and challenging techbase with a bit of toxic flair. The opening wakes up a number of monsters that pile out of the entrance like a clown car. You can dart in and grab the shotgun for some extra insurance or restrain yourself to pistol and chainsaw action. The eastern and western wings have some neat fights, like the imp crossfire right outside the blue key door and the revenants and chaingunners patrolling the outer area. The action heats up when beyond the blue door, where you quickly acquire (through secrets) the plasma rifle and SSG, which make the arachnotrons and barons more entertaining. The final fight stands out the most, however, as it's an archvile sitting behind three toughs. A little dirty, but nothing you're not equipped to handle.

MAP06 Hades House of Horrors – Part 2 (by Robert Zubek, ed. “Lareman”): The sequel reflects Zubeck's eccentricities as much as MAP04, except the predominantly wood theme has been ditched for brick and mortar (and a marble dinner chamber). Lareman's chief aesthetic addition is the use of transparent walls to put an unhealthy sheen over the more gruesome details as well as add some glass to other areas. There's also some of that hexagonal tiling that crops up so much. The only encounter that really stands out in my mind is the one in the rocket launcher room, which has some cool walkway raising effects. It's not demanding but puts a little pressure on you. Amusingly, there's another section (similar to MAP04) where you're trapped between a baron and a difficult spot. The only real negative is the cloud of cacos at the end which are pretty boring to clear out.

MAP07 Dead Temple (by Steven Doornbos, ed. Travers Dunne): This is a gorgeous marble temple with a great leadup, grabbing a few weapons while the bodies of various humanoids litter the way to the teleporter. The fights are a series of difficult, staged Dead Simple-ish encounters. The first is a mancubus crossfire with a crowd of cacodemons storming in from the outside. You have to punch through one of the packs quick to grab another weapon to fight the fatsos off with greater efficiency. Afterward is an arachnotron fight with your back to the wall and a number of barons and hell knights infiltrating the ground level to make your life even more complicated. The final fight is a good kicker, not too tough but can catch you off-guard. Dunne's touch-ups in lighting and detailing are superb, and some of the special effects (like the teleporters) are to die for. Great stuff!

MAP08 Helipad (by Sean R. Malloy, ed. “Snarboo”): Very fun techbase map with lots of low-tier baddies to kill. You start on the eponymous helipad and then fight your way through the structure, grabbing keys in order to open the exit door, near the level’s beginning. Detailing is neat without being obnoxious, with particular restraint given to the hexagonal tiles. My personal standout encounter is the yellow key room, which is swarming with monsters you’ll have to carefully pick off as you wind your way through the clutter. Other dangerous bits include the major toxic room (kind of dangerous with the chaingunner crossfire and imps in the chutes) and the blue key trap, which reveals a wall of beasties. I also dig those cool secrets.

MAP09 Bug Hunt! (by Daniel Griffiths, ed. “GreyGhost”, Sebastian “DoomHero85” Graham, and Travers Dunne): This is a huge, complex techbase with plenty of outdoor space filled with nukage and mountains that kind of plays like the original Doom with a few Doom II additions. It’s a bit of a key hunt but you’re open to approach the map from a variety of angles. It’s mostly low-tier monsters with pockets of cacodemons along with a few more memorable encounters, like the Spiderdemon gamble or the big showdown when you lower the shutters near the end of the map, not to mention the finale, a cramped and dangerous battle with monsters teleporting in to several locations. You can beat a retreat as long as you’re comfortable with facing an entire horde with an archvile at the back. The most annoying enemies are of course the snipers spread out everywhere, especially in a map as wide-open as this one. It’s a great adventure, though. Also – love that briefing theatre.

MAP10 Melange v2 (by Kenneth S. Forte, ed. “maggot202”): Here’s a techbase map that starts out looking normal but quickly gives way to demonic corruption as walls tumble revealing architectural intrusions from Hell. Combat is kind of boring, tending toward taking down cacodemons and hell knights with the shotgun. Well, sometimes you get rude surprises, like entire hordes of monsters teleporting to your location at once. I just wish maggot had seen fit to drop some stronger arms in here somewhere, if only for the final fight, which has two cacodemons and a baron in a fairly open area. That’s a lot of single shotty time. Otherwise, it’s a very cool and somewhat creepy level, with my standout encounter being the rad suit enhanced battle vs. a ton of imps and a hell knight.

MAP11 Elements (by Henry Chang, ed. Christopher “ArmouredBlood” Shepherd): Maintains and, perhaps, enhances Chang’s original division of three elements. To win, you’ll have to pass through dark earth, bright fire, and the relatively unassuming water. The addition of Metroid’s Norfair track helps to drive home the map’s emphasis on exploration, drawing some curious parallels to the famous platformer. You’ll have to find the rocket launcher and plasma rifle behind secrets, and there are a number of soul spheres and armor sets packed away like energy tanks. Combat is a little dangerous near the beginning with all the monster closets in the “earth” section. Things quite down afterward except for ArmouredBlood’s love of letting Revenants loose right next to you. Pretty cool stuff (and I dig that odd line texture in the SSG area).

MAP12 Rawnwood (by David Damerell, ed. “MajorRawne” and Travers Dunne): This collaboration is a predominantly wooden fortress with a marble maze-like annex. Things start off in a library where opposite rows of mancubi fire down on you from upper walkways and things rarely let up with various hordes of monsters appearing, including three pain elementals in the same cramped area (not that dangerous). It’s loaded with clever and not so clever secrets, though my least favorite bit is probably clearing the revenants out of the blue key balcony. My favorite sequence is the northwestern library, which puts lost souls to devious use. A cool little excursion.

MAP13 The Unwilling (by William Leslie, ed. Travers Dunne): Dunne does another Hell of a renovation job, giving us a brick and metal offering that is absolutely loaded with tough ambushes and fights. The whole red key sequence is a series of pushing forward, getting locked into a new area, and having to clear out a host of invaders, time after time. The blue key wing isn’t much different, except maybe a little more dangerous (or not, depending on how spritely you are). Then, finally, the outdoor section, which has two great free-for-all fights, the first with its swarming and varied demonic brethren offering plenty of opportunities to get the monsters killing each other. My only complaint is that combat tends to drag as you’re stuck with no better than the shotgun / chaingun for most of the level, which makes bits like the barons by the blue key pretty tedious to take down (though I suppose if you can figure out how to get to and use the invulnerability, you could hit them like the fist of God provided you also found the berserk pack). Other than that, awesome stuff.

MAP14 COMCON2 (by Patrick Hipps, ed. “maggot202”): Similar to Melange in aesthetics, but COMCON2 is much larger and non-linear. maggot's use of Boom trickery has him teleporting health and ammo into ambush rooms, a sneaky design decision that obscures many of the traps. And there are a lot of them, either monster closets or teleport waves. The action’s all pretty good, except for what is beginning to be a common complaint, the lack of the SSG (though there’s a plasma rifle available for latter portions and, indeed, a rocket launcher). Then again, a combat shotgun would be ideal for this very intimate environment. Most of maggot’s other special effects echo his aesthetics in MAP10, especially the use of translucent walls. Also, I found a secret switch that let me hear an archvile die without even seeing him. Excellent! Only the final fight stands out in my mind, mainly because of its very apparent danger.

MAP15 Cratebase (by Brandon Reinhart and Geoff Allan, ed. Travers Dunne): Another very large techbase with, you guessed it, a ton of crates. Gameplay is basically Doom plus chaingunners and hell knights. Among its delights are satanic static screens, a cool door puzzle, a very boring spiderdemon fight (though it has a phenomenal intro) followed by a more thrilling wave of monsters, and lots of nice elevators. The secret exit sequence in particular is very nice, involving a tense darkened tunnel hunt for several mancubi before flipping the switch that unleashes Hell. It lets loose packs of enemies in several places; to avoid being overwhelmed, you’ll want to clear to a strategically located plasma rifle and then fry them all. It’s my favorite fight in the whole map, though the normal exit wing and its lowered pit fight is a close second.

MAP31 Original Sin (by Jeff Bird, ed. Travers Dunne): Hahaha. Okay, Dunne starts you off back at the end of E1M8 with a ton of chaingun and shotgun ammo. You walk into the teleporter...and are immediately teleported into the slaughter room of E1M8, except this scenario plays out a little differently. You have two rooms to clear out, with the second being a bit more dangerous with the inclusion of some nasty hardbodies. If you’re intelligent, though, you might find a few juicy secrets to make your job much easier. All things considered, this was an excellent way to turn ORIGWAD into something most everyone can enjoy. Actually, I’ll go so far as to say this was the best way.

MAP32 Cyberpie (by James Ojaste, ed. Walter “Daimon” Confalonieri): Confalonieri gives us a ridiculously fun arcade-style level chock full of Cyberdemons, barons, and a few things that aren’t meant to be crushed or telefragged. It starts out on a giant helipad surrounded by cargo, then quickly gets goofy. It’s more of a puzzle map as few of the Cyberdemons pose any challenge. Among the more memorable sections I’ll count a sewer bit where you telefrag a ton of Cybers, turning on the switches behind them in sequence, which raises the water level in sections. Another is a maze with Cybers in cages as you run around trying to flip the switches to lower the teleporter pad (and crush the demons) before your invulnerability runs out. And, well, there’s a bit of silliness with a Cyber in the honeymoon suite. Good stuff.

MAP16 Infinity Plus (by Darrell "FRODO5" Bircsak, ed. Andrew “Malinku” Rehlberger and James “Phobus” Cresswell): An interesting nonlinear techbase with two completely optional keys. Aesthetically it’s a mash-up of different ideas and areas, similar to Polygon Base (but a bit smaller). Similarly, the combat isn’t that intense, excepting a few spots, like the wave of monsters in the infinity room or the bit when the walls lower in the northeastern annex. My favorite encounter is the Cyberdemon fight, which throws a lot of other monsters at you as well. I smirked at the ‘94 --> ‘11 centerpiece. Also, that bit in the Hell cave right before the exit was a nice easy shock.

MAP17 Tunnels (by Dominique Lavergne, ed. Jon “40oz” Vail): The quintessential corridor shooter rendered in a mixture of techbase and sewer. 40oz makes this map pretty fun in spite of its mazy layout. It’s a series of similar tunnels connecting a number of larger, more diverse chambers. Most of the action is by shotgun and chaingun, and for the most part, that’s all you’ll need to conquer the single-file Hellspawn. Later on you get the rocket launcher and SSG (and, as a secret, the plasma rifle). Among my favorite encounters I’ll number the rocket launcher room (infighting ahoy!) and the red key ambush. For having 500+ monsters, it doesn’t really feel like it, which is a good thing. There was one particular detail I enjoyed, the use of a translucent texture to create nukage flowing over a wall.

MAP18 Subway Redux (by Neal Ziring, ed. “UOD”): It’s a huuuuuuuge subway line. It’s got a few stations, but you can divide it into two main areas. The first is the main station, liberally infested with zombiemen and imps and is quite dangerous at the onset. It has the actual subway car. The western area has the meat of the gameplay, wrapped up in a few cargo stations (crates ahoy!) and a large, dangerous sewer excursion which has the most challenging fights. Make sure you fully explore the areas or you’ll be down a secret rocket launcher and plasma rifle, both of which aren’t strictly necessary but which will make your life much easier (particularly that red key trap). The finale is pretty good, throwing you into the outer yard with lots of snipers and ground troopers, with a Cyberdemon guarding the entrance that you can’t risk getting too close to.

MAP19 Undersea (by Brian Plumb, ed. “Dragonsbrethren”): Another techbase that’s succumbing to demonic influence. Except, this one is (mostly) underwater! Dragonsbrethren uses translucent windows to get the level’s point across as well as Boom’s transfer sky property to set an additional sky for the sojourns to green marble Hell. It’s a little tough with some tricky traps (beware the crusher!) and cool segments like the retread through the first leg of the level, where a maze erupts from the ground in the starting room and everything up to the blue key door has been repopulated. Not sure what I’d call the standout fight. The maze is pretty good but the yellow key trip is a pretty neat fight as well, with hell knights acting as turrets.

MAP20 Outland (by Russell Gruber, ed. Tatsuya “Tatsurd-cacocaco” Ito): This is a cool semi-sewer map with a green marble finisher. While it’s fairly linear in its flow, its map space is used a bit more cleverly, with nice details like a secret facilitating speedy access to the red door after acquiring its key. The fight is a mix between careful crowd control and sniper handling, leaning toward the latter in some rooms like the shooting gallery behind the red key door, which is fairly obnoxious to deal with but has both armor and health stashed nearby for those who catch more than their fair share of bullets. The detailing keeps your eyes busy without cluttering up the place. Favorite encounter for me happens just after grabbing the rocket launcher in the marble annex. Very fun.

MAP21 Return to Ultima (by Jon “Chaff” Charlson, ed. Jon “40oz” Vail): Vail’s workover of Charlson’s Ultima 1 is a pretty fucking good answer to the question, “What if Doom were more like a dungeon crawl?” Supplies are not strewn haphazardly around the map; if you want the rocket launcher, or the SSG, then you must fight your way to their locations in Ultima’s Underworld and wrest them from the demonspawn yourself. It’s a remarkable approximation within the confines of Doom’s engine. Due to this fact, of course, there aren’t a great many memorable fights as they resemble more the incidental trash you’d encounter in such a setting. The battle I had that stuck out the most may have been purely incidental while I was exploring the river that cuts the map in twain; something involving a pocket of hitscanners, suppression fire from a revenant and imps, and a rogue pain elemental mucking everything up. It’s a great adventure, though.

MAP22 Retour en le Nefarious Chateau (by Denver J. Curtis, ed. Walter “Daimon” Confalonieri): A fantastically weird but memorable fortress map. It’s very big, but most of that size can be attributed to the countryside surrounding the Chateau, which includes a village and a lake. There are several challenging fights, like the courtyard overseen by an archvile or the surprise attack in the throne room. Managing the whole courtyard area is my favorite segment, especially when the heavy hitters are introduced. Thankfully, there’s a teleporter that leads to an underground Hell (and a rocket launcher) you can take if you get overwhelmed. The fortress itself is loaded down with nooks and crannies; there’s plenty to find here for the diligent secret hunter. Perhaps my favorite vista is the center room with its ruined bridge and skylights shining down into the poisonous water, but there are at least a few other things (some secret) that look very nice.

MAP23 BCS03 (by Brian and Craig Sparks, ed. Tatsuya “Tatsurd-cacocaco” Ito and “Solarn”): Things take a turn to full-blown Hell with this tough and unrelenting map. In the opening moments you’re treated to a ring of barrels blocking an outer ring of barons. Other deathtraps include the caged cacodemon fight and, after a long tunnel trek, the highlight of the level, a massive circular structure in a lake of blood with precarious cobblestones to balance on. Clearing the outer area is already tricky as it’s wide open and you’ll meet a pack of cacos and pain elementals. Grabbing the yellow key, though, kicks things into high gear for a battle royale you’ll want to save a few choice powerups for. It’s crammed full of eye candy, with creepy details like the peering eye through the wall stones or the cools backdrop in the southeastern hallway.

MAP24 Fortified Castle (by Dominic Lavergne, ed. “Krispavera”): A Hell fortress map with a lot of really cool architecture, like the graves and mausoleums, or the giant spiral staircase to the northest, or the blood drainage to the northwest. Also plenty of outdoor areas. It’s also a bit of a toughie. From your first shot fired until you hit the exit switch you’ll be harassed by a number of enemies. One of the highlight fights pits you against an archvile, a pack of revenants, and a squadron of imps in between. The northern spiral staircase yard is also a pretty good romp, dodging arachnotron fire until you grab the plasma rifle (of course, you’ll have to deal with an archvile and his guardians). Plus, a level that starts off with the SSG and rocket launcher? Sign me up!

MAP25 Fort Borg (by John C. Boyle, ed. Christopher “ArmouredBlood” Shepherd): While Shepherd’s revision of Elements was a fun little adventure, this is the kind of action I expect to see when I sit down to a map with Shepherd’s name on it. Fort Borg is a demon-infested fortress, a fusion of cobblestone tunnels, techbase chambers, and brick and mortar courtyards. There’s even a classy outdoor marble area where the majority of the slaughtering takes place – and it will be a slaughter. You’re keyed into this fact after mowing down a horde of zombiemen when stepping on the teleporter drops you square in front of a BFG. You’ll return to this area to end the map, too, with a showdown involving a ton of heavier monsters, including a Cyberdemon. As far as the rest of the map goes, it’s dark and dangerous, with one humorous element involving the red key guardian.

MAP26 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood? (by Grant Monroe, ed. “Printz”): Starts out kind of looking like a city block infested with the usual Hellspawn. Then the street floods with blood, and as you explore the map, the question mark in the title becomes apparent as the very ground cracks open (in a cool touch, a fissure opens in the central house leading you directly to the red key door). It’s a very tough map due to its open nature. You’ll be running for cover virtually every time you return to the main section due to ritual invasion from cacodemons, demons, and other unsavory things. It’s a very neat experience, and quite deceptive. The way Printz gradually transforms the map from ‘94 to a Stygian pit is remarkable.

MAP27 WetWorkD2 (by Wayne “Zen Psychosis” Conner, ed. Jason “rf'” Allison): This is a massive, gorgeous techbase with a solid heart of Hell. It’s got a lot of grand architecture that catches the eye, like the main slaughter room to the northeast with its giant stairway to nowhere. The map’s turning point arrives upon acquiring the blue key. You’ll encounter a slightly tricky ambush before encountering the red-rock and organic structures of the southern area. Action is excellent with monsters lurking around every corner and a few nasty surprises, which you should only expect after acquiring the BFG. The teleporter room that leads you around to the yellow key wing is another nasty moment if tackled with little planning. The main slaughter fight isn’t quite as imposing as intended; most of its participants can be taken care of with little or no harm to the player, with only a Cyberdemon to mop up.

MAP28 The Nightmare (by “VT Ice”, ed. “Masayan”): Truly a nightmare. This is a puzzle map where enemy interactions with weapons are your cipher. If you’ve been carrying over gear and ammo in sequence, you’ll have a ball blasting the hordes of imps and other beasties to pieces with your hard-earned gear. Otherwise, prepare to be conserving ammo via infighting and perfect BFG alignment. You’ll also want to find pretty much every secret you can as well. I foresee two trouble spots in particular. There’s a grey granite room loaded with monsters and revenants in the wings. The only way I could bypass it without suffering archvile attrition was to rush the bastard with the BFG and let infighting take the rest out. The other bit, heh, is the finale. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

MAP29 The Castle Invaded by Hell (by Richard Dignall, ed. Tatsuya “Tatsurd-cacocaco” Ito): It's exactly what it says on the tin, a castle that's been overtaken by demons. You get to the Hell part shortly after acquiring the red key; it makes up the other half of the map. I'm always a fan of Ito's style of detail, which usually involves putting gorgeous architecture beyond the player's reach, like that setup just northeast of the slaughter room or the room where the switch that reveals the blue key is found. Gameplay is great fun, focusing on difficult encounters with tons of demons in the more open rooms. You'll find carefully arranged hordes behind every door, with one of my favorite encounters being the '94 tribute room, where you're introduced to several waves of enemies in a nice, open environment with some nasty overhead. A more ridiculous encounter comes in the final leg, though rounding up a ton of revenant rockets and luring them into a Spiderdemon is strangely edifying. Great stuff!

MAP30 Pure Evil (by Doug Ryerson, ed. Walter “Daimon” Confalonieri and Travers Dunne): Welcome to Hell! This map is loaded down with ammo and powerups and health because, well, you will be constantly under siege by demons from a multitude of boss shooters. Confalonieri has rigged up an impressive series of Boom features to keep monsters from perpetually telefragging each other which makes this even more dangerous. You will have to fight your way through constantly regenerating hordes while clearing the map as normal, finding keys through level segments and flipping switches until you arrive at the main showdown, two Cyberdemons at their Hellish thrones. Word to the wise – Romero doesn't appear this map. Blow the terrible two away and the portal to freedom will spring open. Thankfully, a number of tricky shortcuts are available for you to skip past your enemies once you've hit your objectives. Perhaps my favorite bit has you choose between a megasphere, invulnerability artifact, and BFG 9000. Though why settle if you have an archvile hanging around... This is simply diabolical. I love it!

Icebound (ICE_LUTZ.WAD)

2012-01-03T00:12:00.001-06:00

ICEBOUND
(by Christopher Lutz)

Christopher Lutz's Icebound has the dubious distinction of being the first Heretic WAD reviewed on this site (as well as my first Heretic PWAD ever). It has a few more noteworthy aspects... It's the only Heretic WAD featured in the 2011 Cacowards (oh, it won one, too) and was in the running for the Mordeth award (seven years!) until someone pointed out that the 1994 Tune-up Community Project was technically in “development” for seventeen years. Admittedly, that last one seems more like a way to get 1994TU.WAD an honorable mention. Whatever the outcome, Lutz saw fit to thaw this shelved project out, an E1M3 replacement for Boom / MBF compatible ports, and we are the beneficiaries of his dogged persistence.

If the title didn't clue you in, Icebound begins with Corvus on a boat trapped in an ice floe outside some appropriately ancient ruins. You'll see a lot of lovingly rendered chunks of frozen water while you traverse the fortress. You'll also see a host of special effects, from 3D bridges to terrific voodoo doll scripts creating an unusually dynamic environment (and silent teleporters!). Finally, Icebound is pretty challenging. I mean, I'm no Heretic expert, but there were several tricky fights that had me reaching for my stock of items (usually too slow to prevent my untimely death). Most of Heretic's bestiary makes an appearance here, excepting the two biggest bads. Outside of secrets (I only found one of seven, a morph ovum) you'll find your ammo and weapon selection pretty restricted. Make judicious use of powerups and the gauntlets.

Some standout encounters... The phoenix rod fight is perhaps my favorite sequence. It seems pretty innocuous at first, a central platform in the center of a ring of ice, with a pack of gargoyles and bishops messing with you. Then you activate the switch, causing lava to pour from the ceiling, which replaces the slippery ice with deadly molten rock, also removing the pillars you leaped across to get to the middle platform. Then some more bishops and gargoyles appear, except you're restricted to a small area to dodge, exacerbated by the presence of frozen water on your precarious perch. Finally, shooting the designated switches causes some pillars to fall from the ceiling, allowing you to both grab the phoenix rod and escape from the room. It's very faux-3D and very awesome.

The other battles that stand out in my mind are utter brawls. There's one in the northern court, er, yard, which should result in some tricky maneuvering as you strafe around the undead warriors and golems (taking care to dodge attacks from the ramparts). The other is the finale, prompted by an iron lich reveal that puts you in quite the crossfire, complete with two hordes of dragons and sabreclaws. You have to tease these guys out to get at the precious phoenix rod ammo behind them which should make clearing the bishops a breeze. Of course, there's still the risk of succumbing to the lich, but you should be in the clear.

The action is pretty linear but it's a treat to explore and experience. One of the more environmental situations has you running across a series of pillars to a switch that, when pressed, unleashes a ton of gargoyles, a few pockets of projectile enemies, and fireball-spewing geysers that make falling to the ground a dangerous proposition. Oh, and it cleverly changes the teleporter destination so that you can't just use it as a shortcut back to the start point. The map as a whole is gorgeously detailed and has excellent architecture. Lutz nails a cohesive theme, with all its water (flowing, frozen, and still) and more organic features contrasted with the more intelligent additions. I know there aren't a lot of Heretic WADs out there, so it's great to see something of this quality put out for one of Doom's slightly younger siblings. If you love Heretic, you NEED to play this map. In fact, play this WAD if you like Heretic at all. It's simply fantastic.

Sacrament (SACRMENT.WAD)

2012-01-01T07:13:00.000-06:00

Sacrament is the second collaboration from Clan [B0S], a loose confederation of Russian Doomers. It's a large episode (thirteen maps) for Doom II for limit-removing ports and features a host of new graphics as well as ingenious use of stock material. The plot isn't very clear, though I suspect it's a language barrier difficulty. From what I gather, you wake up from a nightmare (MAP01) and are contacted to proceed to your base of operations. Gradually you discover that the apocalypse is in full swing, and in some twisted form of the rapture, the worthy have ascended to heaven while the damned turn into unholy abominations and fight each other on a now-deserted Earth. Which begs the question, why have you alone retained your humanity? The mysterious voices – angels, perhaps? - wonder that themselves. It's a question unanswered when the finale rolls around, sadly.

If you want another episode of typical Doom II action, look somewhere else, like Clan [B0S]'s Da Will, another episode (for Plutonia). If I had to give Sacrament an analogue, it would be Eternal Doom. Many of the maps are large and feature exploration and some light puzzle-solving. They also emphasize incredible visuals. This is worth strolling through just to see the eye-candy. Well, when there's enough light to see. It's also VERY dark. Sometimes it's just annoying; other times, you find yourself appreciating the light amp goggles for the first time in a very long time. Really, though, maps like Vancouver, Seaport and Controlled System are awe-inspiring.

Where Sacrament lacks is in the encounter department. Clan [B0S] emphasizes the journey over the action, which again, brings to mind some aspects of Eternal Doom. It's certainly not a bad thing, of course, unless you're averse to that sort of experience. I wouldn't say that these maps lack interesting fights entirely; they're just not loaded with them like Plutonia, which their earlier WAD takes after. Some maps are rather classical in their action, like Wraith's offerings or Dragon Hunter's “Arena”. Others, especially MAP02, are the opposite. The focus is on the journey and exploration rather than the fights you endure. Sacrament is more concerned with artistry through architecture, where it succeeds in spades. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a cavalcade of heart-pumping encounters. If you want a beautiful post-apocalyptic travelogue, though, you can't do much better (in my admittedly lacking experience).

I really do like the music. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I can say with total honesty that no tone featured put me off (except a more generic MIDI track on MAP11, which was more of a break in cohesion than anything). The new weapon sprites, however... They're just so dull and lifeless compared to the Doom originals. The look and application is fairly consistent (except the BFG) but your core weapons lack any visual punch, particularly the shotguns. It's the only real complaint I have in this otherwise excellent mapset. Well, that and its lack of a concrete ending. I am definitely looking forward to the next [B0S] collaboration. NOTE: The version linked in this blog is the 1.1 release, which fixes a number of issues.

SACRAMENT
(by Clan [B0S])

MAP01 Reposa In Pace (by Glory “Slavius” Antonio): Bizarre map that begins in a relatively ordinary-looking house style and then quickly turns into a Hellish nightmare, with a blood-flooded kitchen, among other things. During the nightmare you'll walk through several massive forests (beware the sprite slowdown!) and a precarious Hellish cavern or two with monsters at the sides harrying your steps. Though combat is restricted to the pistol, the strongest monster you'll face is a lost soul, so the action isn't too terribly slow. Not the most auspicious beginning, I'll admit, but it has some interesting features.

MAP02 Doxylamine Moon (by “Lainos”): If the start didn't clue you in, the previous map was indeed just a nightmare. Doxylamine Moon is something completely different, however. In an even greater departure from Doom's gameplay is this enormous, realistic city map, which is practically deserted. Even after some thorough exploration I ended up with 9/53 monsters. The map's essentially here for atmosphere, though. You could waste a lot of time running around exploring everything and finding those yellow skull keys, which seem like worthless collectibles. Though Lainos marked the entire map as hidden so that some of the magic remains intact, he's kind enough to place markers that give you a direct route to the [B0S] headquarters (which has a cute "secret agent" thing going for it with the logo and the entrance). About the biggest slight I can give is that the player may or may not have fun hunting for the blue key. It's absolutely gorgeous, but feels like a ghost town from Deus Ex.

MAP03 Dirtyllery (by Gushin “Wraith” Eugene): Wraith brings us back into Doom territory with this large, toxic techbase. It's a little non-linear and has some cool bits like the northeastern cliffwall where the toxins are being dumped and some nifty secrets, though half the time you feel as though you stumbled upon them. Combat is pretty low-key with the main obstacle being the amount of nukage you have to wade through, though with wise rad suit usage it shouldn't be too demanding. No real standout encounters, given its pacing. Well, I guess an early trap in the crate room is about as dangerous as it gets.

MAP04 Phobia (by “Dr. Max”): The doctor dumps us at a waterfront with some neat marble monuments with an adjacent cavern. The monsters are a bit more dense here with more lethal traps and less “fun” bits like monsters obscured by overlayed vines. I can forgive those, though, since his usage of support pillars for the outdoor cage section prevent it from being a place of pain. I rather like the look of this map with its tunnels and switchbacks. About halfway through you hit a fork in the road. Each path leads to the exit, but you can't backtrack once you're committed. Both evoke themes explored near the map's beginning; the left the techbase segment with the crazy light fixtures and the right the marble ruins at the map's beginning. They're both fun, but I enjoyed the right path more. I'm not sure what I'd consider a standout encounter. The short techbase maze leading to the blue key left the biggest impression as it left me feeling a little vulnerable and less cheesed compared to the packs of shotgunners encountered just a little later.

MAP05 Lavatraz (by Gushin “Wraith” Eugene): This is basically a knockoff of TNT Evilution's “Prison”, but larger and a bit more complex. There's a lake of fire in the center with two large buildings isolated within and three other structures to explore. The easternmost has a familiar imp / hell knight crossfire, made different with some slight puzzle elements. The western building is strikingly similar to the easternmost area in “Prison”, from the lower entrances at lava level to the revenant walkway and columns and an area that opens up revealing some demon-infested cubbies. It's also the standout sequence as far as gameplay goes. The northern section, located behind some battlements, is a little maze-ish, but it's not too bad and is over quite quick. I think Wraith definitely added something worthwhile to Dowswell's original idea. Only complaint is that ammo is pretty tight until you get that rocket launcher, but it makes things all the sweeter.

MAP06 Pandora's Box (by “Archi”): This is a really cool map that begins with an atmospheric tunnel run with a few surprises before dumping you into the middle of an outdoor firefight with cacodemons, imps, demons, and other unsavory elements. There are several visual hooks to keep you interested, like some dense scrub in the center (from where mancubus fireballs emerge), a ruined cathedral, a quarry, and some kind of stronghold. There are also several caverns to explore, one with blood and one having a memorable series of shootouts as you trace your way along the wall. The only bad thing I have to say is that the map's non-linearity can give you a headache in terms of backtracking. I managed to make my way to the blue key pedestal before finding out that switch to grant access to it is part of a different section of map flow. Otherwise, I found it fun and just a little challenging.

MAP07 Arena (by Sanya aka “Dragon Hunter”): This is a fun, violent map based around an arena, complete with stands and spectators. There are annexes in the cardinal directions you have to clear out in order to get to the exit. It's challenging, crowded gameplay, particularly the opening and areas like the eastern wing (imp overflow) and the finale, which is infighting heaven. Every time you flip a switch, you'll let some more arachnotrons into the central room, but they're pretty deftly handled. The most memorable area to me was the western extension, a dungeon-style series of corridors with monsters (demons and an archvile) packed into cells. You can't let them out or kill them, so you know what's going to happen when you grab the red key, which gives just the slightest bit of trepidation. Another shock I enjoyed was going down the exit tunnel only to run smack into two fiesty archviles. Great map!

MAP08 Zone X (by “Archi”): Zone X is a techbase in some derelict city block. It's got crates and rubble blocking off the street in specific places to control map flow, as well as a waste processing annex and collapsed street leading into a neat sewer section. It's pretty fun to explore with a lot of great detail crammed into such a small area. Standout encounter is in the large collapsed section, requiring you to deal with mancubi and then revenants while a crowd of hell knights fire at you from afar, though I'll admit that the infested portion had little to do with anything. Regardless, I love it, and the action is a little punchy without being overbearing.

MAP09 Vancouver (by “Archi”): Archi's followup and final map is a strange offering in several parts. Most of the action takes place in overgrown outdoor marble ruins that have the look of some ancient graveyard. There's also a bizarre structure floating in space composed of an island and a series of marble platforms that lends the level an otherworldly quality. It's pretty moody with enemies appearing in spurts rather than a constant inundation. There's a Cyberdemon who's still pretty hard to take down with the provided invulnerability, mainly because you're limited to the SSG and rocket launcher. Most of the fighting is a little cramped, with the outlandish western section requiring careful footwork as it's possible to fall off the floating bridge and die while dodging revenant rockets. Finally, I have to say that the exit room's lighting is positively stunning. Very cool.

MAP10 Wood Prison (by Kolybenko “Azamael” Michailo): Azamael produces this absolutely massive fortress-esque map that feels more like something from Eternal Doom. It's exploration style, generally light on action, and has plenty of ammo and weapons. While it's fun to wander around and hit switches (some of the puzzles are pretty cool), there are a few sections I didn't particularly care for. The massive southeastern hall, for one, which has scores of zombiemen entering through giant portals. It's a cool idea, but the zombiemen are frustrating as they're pretty much just attrition machines and have a good bit of time to see you before you can see them. The other is a pitch-black area with zombiemen in cages. It's not fun to clear, and while you get a soul sphere and a handy rad suit, the whole segment feels like pulling teeth. Thankfully, the rest of the map has great visuals and cool sequences like the northwestern pier or the soutwestern walkway crawl (my standout encounter / series of encounters).

MAP11 Seaport (by Kolybenko “Azamael” Michailo): While this rivals Azamael's “Wood Prison” in terms of scope, it's astoundingly linear. But that's okay by me, because this is an absolute feast for the eyes. Most of the action takes place around an enormous cavern by the sea and the views are excellent, particularly when I rounded the corner and saw the enormous opening at the end, just beyond a massive bridge spanning the ledges on either side. There's also a cool outdoor waterfront with several boats and a natural arch. Like MAP10, it isn't particularly difficult, with the toughest parts coming in the cave segment, namely the imp crossfire. Really, it's just one great, long adventure. Though I have a sneaking suspicion I missed a rocket launcher somewhere...

MAP12 Industrial Processing (by Sanya aka “Dragon Hunter”): They should have called THIS map “Phobia”. Well, Achluophobia, to be exact. This map is very dark, and you will find no end to the number of spectres clamoring for your blood. Couple that with some sneaky monster placement and you'll be crawling along, swinging your shotgun ten feet in front of you. Dragon Hunter really nails the atmosphere of paranoia. It's not a design decision made out of negligence; partway through the level, you'll find a pair of light amp goggles and realize that the darkness is just as much an enemy as each revenant and imp skulking around. It's got tons of nooks and crannies with items to find, though he could have provided the combat shotgun a bit sooner (especially given a lethal revenant trap close by). The darkness also makes what bits of lighting that do show up pop like nothing else. No real standout encounters except for perhaps the final showdown, which has some revenants and a Cyberdemon, and has a blur sphere as a sneaky way to set things up (though you don't have to take it).

MAP13 Controlled System (by “BeeWen” aka “Lestat”): The final map of Sacrament is massive, dark, and disturbing, a post-apocalyptic landscape riddled with fissures of Hellfire. You won't see it at first, when you're clearing out the slightly confusing eastern wing, but the experience crystallizes when you first step foot onto the ruined bridge. A lot of care has gone into conveying this derelict atmosphere. If I had to compare this map to anything, it would be one of Bob Evans's “Odessa” levels. The action isn't all that memorable, excepting perhaps the western wing with dueling Spiderdemons and a Cyberdemon thrown in for good measure. No; the emphasis is of course on exploration and solving “puzzles”. The biggest bottleneck myself was the red key, which is accessed via an area that's marked as secret, though the entrance is both easily accessible and visible. After that, the rest of the level falls into place. Honestly, if nothing else, just turn on -nomonsters and stroll around for a bit, because this map is absolutely gorgeous. My only major complaint is...where the Hell was the SSG?

THE SACRED MYSTERY

Happy Doom Year

2012-01-01T02:51:00.000-06:00

Thank you all of my readers, whether you comment or not

Thank you to the Doom community, who continues to produce fantastic material since 1994, and even if you made absolute shit, because you made something

Thank you Genesis, and Peter Gabriel, you are my #1 band

Tipsyposting ITT

DoomX Not Dead!

2011-12-29T06:53:00.000-06:00

Pierre Ramirez's DoomX project site went down for a good few days, sending a smidgen of incoming traffic to my blog. Apparently it was hacked, but it's back up with a minor update, concerning his badass-looking "freeze thrower" (and "freeze gun"). I wanna play this so bad.

Hanging Gardens (HGARDEN.PK3)

2011-12-28T01:56:00.000-06:00

HANGING GARDENS
(by Paul “Skillsaw” DeBruyne)

Hanging Gardens is a single map for GZDoom by Paul DeBruyne, released concurrently with Lunatic. It's the only part of an abandoned project he deemed worth releasing. It was supposed to take place on some kind of desert base, and judging from some of the elements present, it appears to combine elements of Serious Sam's gameplay with Doom's, but after having played DeBruyne's other maps I think this kind of slaughtery action is just his style. It also has a few new monsters, pulled from the Realm 667 Bestiary, the Suicide Bomber and the Archon of Hell. If I'm not mistaken, HGARDEN also has its own special effects pack, derived from Nash's gore mod.

Indeed, the map takes place in a desert garden of some sort. You won't see any sand, but it's gorgeously decorated with planters and pools of water both high and low. It's tiered in such a fashion that height increases from the northeast to the southwest. Expect lots of stairs and lots of chokepoints. Since it appears to take place at high noon, there's little lighting to speak of. Actually, the bits you do see really help convey the sun beating down directly on you. The foundation itself is a tan color that contrasts nicely with both the water and greenery.

Gameplay is undeniably a slaughter, and it's all open-air. You're immediately confronted by a pack of imps you have to blast through, then decide to go up or down, frantically fighting your way to a location that isn't inundated with Hellspawn. While you have all sorts of projectile-throwing trash cluttering up the open areas, Skillsaw has seeded a number of platforms with mancubi and arachnotrons to serve as additional distractions beyond the carnivorous road blocks. To make things worse, there are no shortage of cacodemons to be found, the whole mess combining into quite the opposition.

Weapons 3-5 are acquired at the map's onset. The BFG and plasma rifle are found in strategic locations you'll have to fight your way to. And there are a generous number of soul spheres and ammo caches scattered about like morsels for Pac-Man. Once you've cleared out the incumbents, you have to grab three keys. One has no strings attached while the others invite waves of violence in the vicinity. The blue key is the more interesting encounter, showcasing a number of Suicide Bombers that give the attack the aforementioned Serious Sam feel. There's an archvile there, too, but he's deftly handled. The red key is a more difficult trap as the monsters are more varied (including some pain elementals) and considerably spread out.

When you've got everything you can open the exit door, which unleashes three Archons of Hell. Never having fought one before, they play like amped-up barons, firing either spreads of plasma or cool-looking comets. They're not very dangerous, really, given that you probably have a cranked-up BFG and solid cover to work around. And from there, well, the end! Hanging Gardens is gorgeous and plays quite well, assuming you're fond of slaughter maps. I'm intrigued with where DeBruyne was going with this whole thing, but it's fun to play with what he's deigned to release.

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