DoomX Not Dead!

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)

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.

Plutonia Revisited Community Project (PRCP.WAD)

The Plutonia Experiment was a megaWAD created by the Casali brothers for id Software as part of the Final Doom package. In the years since, it's enjoyed a more favorable legacy than its sibling, TNT Evilution, so much so that it's had two unofficial sequels, Plutonia 2 and the WAD which this review covers, Plutonia Revisited. Plutonia Revisited's scope is a bit narrower than Plutonia 2, however, as the PRCP focused on vanilla compatibility (the trend of 2011). The only flaws you'll encounter when playing the original .EXE are a few maps that invoke the savegame buffer overflow (hooray for source ports!). In fact, this project has a few instances of mapping tricks that require vanilla emulation in source ports (notably some linedef hoodoo in MAP31). Redacted 05/01/12.

Helltrip (HELLTRIP.WAD)

HELLTRIP
by Jason "Hellbent" Root

Root initially introduced Helltrip fishing for possible titles to a WAD he was working on that was freaking him out:

"Maybe because it's the middle of the night and the lights are off, but this wad I'm working on is really freakin' me out. I mean, if this isn't hell, I don't know what is. Doom doesn't scare me that much anymore, but the second half of this wad does. It feels like the monsters are coming out of the walls. It is twisted evil, hellbent on seriously deranged destruction. Too bad it's designed for only the most hardcore and intense doomers."

Reception on the archives has been split dead even, with people despising it as boring, absolute trash or loving it to death as an intense, spooky experience. I myself am split. I certainly see where both sides are coming from, erring a bit more towards the lovers than the haters.

Nilla Doom (NILLA.WAD)

Nilla Doom is a seven-map episode for vanilla Doom II (duh), courtesy of Doomworld forum superstar Use3D (Mike Alfredson). The plot is simple and winking, following the adventure of a post-retirement marine as he attempts to warn his neighbors of another incursion of Hellspawn. It's a mixture of outdoor / indoor techbases and underground maps before finally settling into Hell itself, mostly to the familiar soundtrack of Rise of the Triad. This of course invites comparison to Hell Revealed, which isn't far off the mark. Nilla Doom is challenging, as though the first episode of HR got together with The Plutonia Experiment and had a baby. Those who fear Doom II's bestiary should avoid; Use3D puts the expanded roster to good work.

Favored of the Doomed

On the 10th anniversary of Doom's release, a bunch of Doomworld regulars got together and came up with a list of the Top 100 WADs of All Time, with ten representatives from every year. Unofficially, this feature constitutes the first ten years of Doomworld's current annual institution, the Cacowards, though the Cacowards are a bit more extended. Because these WADs come so highly recommended, they're part of my review itinerary. And, well, I figured I'd slap together a master list for visitors to leaf through. The lists are hidden via javascript; click on the headings to reveal them.

Doomworld's Cacowards aren't a definitive list of the ten best WADs of their eras, a fact detractors take care to point out. They're a good starting point, though, for those wishing to sample the cream of the crop with regards to PWADs.

1994 Top Ten WADs

Crossing Acheron	Aliens TC
Doomsday of UAC	Galaxia
Serenity	Eternity
The Unholy Trinity	Return to Phobos
Slaughter Until Death	The Evil Unleashed

1995 Top Ten WADs

Fava Beans	Infinity
Boothill / A Fistful of Doom	H2H-Xmas
The Final Gathering	Artifact
Nostromo's Run	Obituary
The Enigma Episode	DWANGO5

1996 Top Ten WADs

Memento Mori	Memento Mori II
Dystopia 3: Re-Birth of Anarchy	All Hell is Breaking Loose
Army of Darkness Doom	Icarus: Alien Vanguard
Polygon Base	99 Ways to Die
The Troopers' Playground	A Hidden Mountain Factory

1997 Top Ten WADs

Requiem	Eternal Doom
Gothic DM	STRAIN
Mordeth	The Talosian Incident
Dawn of the Dead	Hell Revealed
Hell's Eventide	CHORD_NG

1998 Top Ten WADs

Gothic DM 2	Cyberdreams
Phobos	Earth
Venom	Tantrum 2
DICKIE10	Run Buddy
ODESSA14	Crestfallen

1999 Top Ten WADs

Batman Doom	The Darkening
KZDoom1	Crusades
Chord G	Jägermörder
Twilight Warrior	Demonfear
Tei Tenga	Herian 2

2000 Top Ten WADs

The Darkening Episode 2	10 Sectors
Chord 3	Classic Episode
Hell Factory	Painful Evil
ZanZan	KZDoom6
Atomic Tomb	Containment Area

2001 Top Ten WADs

Sin City	SlayeR
Null Space	Doom Resurrection
The Darkest Hour	Equinox
Vrack2b	Phobia
KZDoom7	TVR!

2002 Top Ten WADs

Alien Vendetta	2002: A Doom Odyssey
Caverns of Darkness	Dark 7 / Mission Pack
Nimrod	CH Retro Episode
Ruma	License to Spell Doom
Rip It, Tear It, Smash It	Congestion Control

2003 Top Ten WADs

Phobos: Anomaly Reborn	Void
Scythe	Brotherhood of Ruin
Doom 64: Absolution	Massmouth 2
Doom Raider	Helpyourselfish
RTC-3057 Demo	Space Station Omega

2004 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level	Honorable Mentions
Action Doom	8-Bit DM	Super Sonic Doom
Decade	Worst WAD	Deus Vult
RTC-3057	Doom: Rampage Edition	Massmouthmas
Grove	Mordeth Award	Daedalus
Tremor	Hellcore
Chosen	Mockaward
Phobos Revisited	Doomworld Forums 3
Hell Revealed 2	Mapper of the Year
Community Chest 2	B.P.R.D.
ZDoom Community Map

2005 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level
Simplicity	Nimrod: Project Doom
Scythe 2	Worst WAD
HedRox	1994 WADs
Suspended in Dusk	Mordeth Award
Kama Sutra	Jägermörder 02: Terra Nova
Congestion 1024	Mockaward
Hi-Tech Hell 2: Alien Tech	Kama Sutra
Temple of Chaos 2: Warped Reality	Mapper of the Year
Crimson Canyon	AgentSpork
Total Control
Honorable Mentions
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Altar of Evil

2006 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level
Phocas Island 2	Dynamite Deathmatch
IC2005	Worst WAD
Hellcore v2.0	Auferstehung
Newdoom Community Map Project	Mordeth Award
Operation Overlord	Crucified Dreams
Vae Victus 2	Mockaward
Phobia: The Age	How Not to Be Seen
Foreverhood v1.0	TurboCharged Arcade!
Classic Episode 2: Singularity Complex	Mapper of the Year
Crucified Dreams	Dutch Devil
Honorable Mentions
Impossible: A New Reality	Oniria
Zen Dynamics

2007 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level
Genesis of Descent	32in24-5
Cheogsh	Worst WAD
Songs of the Damned	Anything Gamarra
The Dying End	Mordeth Award
Sine Die	Knee Deep in ZDoom
Knee Deep in ZDoom	Mockaward
Community Chest 3	It Only Gets Worse
Epic	Mapper of the Year
Ultimate Torment and Torture	Alexander "Eternal" S.
The Outer Darkness
Honorable Mentions
Demons of Problematique	Wonderful Doom

2008 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level
Deus Vult II	32in24-7
Gravity	Worst WAD
Urban Brawl: Action Doom II	UAC Military Nightmare
Eternal Doom IV	Mordeth Award
Thunderpeak	Deus Vult II
Back to Basics	Mockaward
BGPA Missions: Liberation	Community is Falling 3
Chex Quest 3	Mapper of the Year
Escape from Castle Chezcrea	Björn "Vader" Ostmann
Cold as Hell
Honorable Mentions
Remain III	XXXI Cybersky
Diaz: Last Hours of Purity

2009 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best DM Level
Hell Ground	UDMX
NewDoom Community Project II	Worst WAD
Harmony	Tormentor667's Detail Guide
Mapgame	Mordeth Award
Legacy of Suffering	Plutonia 2
Tribute	Mockaward
Ghouls vs. Humans	Killing Adventure
Whispers of Satan	Mapper of the Year
Demons of Problematique 2	Brett "Mechadon" Harrell
Plutonia 2
Honorable Mentions
Happy Time Circus 2	Cheogsh 2

2010 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
No Rest for the Living	Megaman Deathmatch	Beyond Revival
Arcadia Demade	Worst WAD	Base Ganymede ep2
Curse of D'sparil	Æons of Death	Doom: Threshold of Pain
UAC Ultra	Mordeth Award	Realm of Cheogsh
Unloved	Stronghold	Serpent: Resurrection
Valhalla	Mockaward	Temple of the Lizard Men 2
Speed of Doom	Facepalm	Paranoid
Drip Feed	TurboCharged ARCADE! The Sequel Episode
Epic 2	Mapper of the Year
Stronghold	Jon "40oz" Vail

2011 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer
Plutonia Revisited	32in24-11: Occupy Doomworld
Vapordemo	Best Gameplay Mod
Lunatic	Brutal Doom
Double Impact	Mordeth Award
Vanguard	1994 Tune-up Community Project
Reverie	Mapper of the Year
Jenesis	Paul "Skillsaw" DeBruyne
Icebound	Honorable Mentions
Mandrill Ass Project	Doom II Redux
Khorus's Speedy Shit	Doom64 EX

2012 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Doom the Way id Did	WhoDunIt?	Beyond Reality
Strife: Absolute Order	Best Gameplay Mod	Masters of Chaos
Putrefier	Russian Overkill	Frozen Time
5till L1 Complex	Mordeth Award	Planisphere 2
Community Chest 4	Community Chest 4	Coffee Break Ep. 1
Reelism	Mockaward
The Eye	Call of Dooty II
Combat Shock 2	Mapper of the Year
Winter's Fury	Adam "Khorus" Woodmansey
Base Ganymede: Complete

2013 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Back to Saturn X: Episode 1	Eyedea	Interception
Doom 2 the Way id Did	Samsara	Hadephobia
Unholy Realms	Eon Deathmatch	Hellbound
ZDoom Community Map Project: Take 2	Best Gameplay Mod	High / Low 5
Fuel Devourer	Project MSX	Soulcrusher
Kuchitsu	Mordeth Award	Stomper
Forsaken Overlook	ZDCMP2
Stardate 20X6	Mockaward
Pirate Doom	Extreme Weapon Pack
Swim With the Whales	Mapper of the Year
	Ribbiks

2014 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Going Down	32in24-13	Bauhaus
The Adventures of Square	Push	Bloody Steel
Back to Saturn X: Episode 2	Rage CTF	Mayhem 2048
Plasmaplant	Best Gameplay Mod	Whitemare 2
Shadows of Chronos	DemonSteele	You Dig
Monster Hunter Ltd. 1/2	Mordeth Award	The Wailing Horde
Resurgence	Doom 2 in Name Only	Reconstruction/
Mayan Mishap	Mockaward	Decomposition
Urban Brawl: Dead of Winter	Brutalist Doom
Thy Flesh Turned Into a Draft Excluder	Mapper of the Year
	Joshy

2015 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Sunlust	Don't Be a Bitch Remastered	Doomed Space Wars
Erkattäññe	ChaosCore CTF	Crumpets
Skulldash	Best Gameplay Mod	Prime Directive
Swift Death	DoomRL Arsenal	Pinnacle of Darkness
Breach	Mordeth Award	Ol' No Name
Valiant	ChaosCore CTF	32in24-14
50 Shades of Graytall	Mockaward
Sheer Poison	InstaDoom
dead.wire	Mapper of the Year
Return to Hadron	dannebubinga

2016 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Tech Gone Bad	AeonDM	Warphouse
Ancient Aliens	32in24-16	THT: Threnody
Nihility: Infinite Teeth	Best Gameplay Mod	Bloodstain
Mutiny	Doom 4 Doom	Strange Aeons
Absolutely Killed	Mordeth Award	Echelon
Elf Gets Pissed	Doom the Way id Did:	Shadow of the Wool Ball
Comatose	The Lost Episodes
Miasma	Mockaward
Alpha Accident: Terra Nova	Ludicrium
Japanese Community Project	Mapper of the Year
Blades of Agony E1	Lainos

2017 Cacowards

The Top Ten	Best Multiplayer	Runners Up
Lilith	Pyrrhic	Rise of the Wool Ball
Shadows of the Nightmare Realm	Progressive Duel	Return to Hadron Episode 2
No End In Sight	Best Gameplay Mod	TNT: Revilution
dead.air	Doom Delta	Waterlab GZD
Brigandine	Final Doomer	Disjunction
Counterattack	High Noon Drifter	Hexen: Curse of the Lost Gods
Legacy of Heroes	Mordeth Award	Water Spirit
Saturnine Chapel	TNT: Revilution	Hellscape
Stardate 20X7	Machaward	Dark Tide
Void and Rainbow	The Gift
Codeaward	Mapper of the Year
OBLIGE	dobu gabu maru

Top 25 Missed Cacowards

Scythe X	Invasion... Level 2: The Upper Decks	The Warlock's Hearth
Sunder	Zaero: Episode 1	Plutonium Winds
Jade Earth	Nova II: New Dawn	Alpha 1 Trilogy
Doom: The Golden Souls	SkePLand	Toilet of the Gods
A.L.T.	The Inquisitor 3	DemoniZed
Osiris	Rylayeh	City of the Damned: Apocalypse
Vrack 3	Eternal Slumber Party	Sacrament
No Chance	Vile Flesh	Hideous Destructor
	Psychic

Lunatic (LUNATIC.WAD)

Lunatic is a five-map minisode by Paul "Skillsaw" DeBruyne for limit-removing Boom-compatible ports. To make a long story short, if you enjoyed Vanguard (another 2011 release by DeBruyne), Lunatic should be right up your alley. It's a similar style of gameplay with smaller, tighter maps (compared to Vanguard's later, sweeping epics), and a few new twists. It's set on the moon, which recently collided with a giant ball of demons, the combined mass breaking it from its orbit and sending it toward Earth. You've got to fight your way across Luna's surface and through the resident UAC outpost to make your escape.

Upkeep

I've been undergoing a phase of site improvement that's 95% under the hood, stripping out garbage HTML and some slight edits here and there. All of Sverre Kvernmo's Cabal levels have an appropriate "series" TOC similar to Titan, Inferno, and the Top Ten. And, in case you're wondering... Yes, I've elected to take an extra three day period off for reviewing that forty-map monster, Doom 2 Unleashed. Lunatic will be posted on Saturday. Additionally, I have a tentative list of WADs set aside for the period between 2011 / 1998 and 1999. It's pretty big, but not as big as 2011 is turning out to be. Jeeze. I may post it at some point in a desperate bid for comments / suggestions. Also added an About page.

Pallace Skorn (PLCSKN.WAD)

PALLACE SKORN
by Callum Guy "phobosdeimos1" Oliver

After playing through Digon Base and Spire Complex (and bits of Corebinder and Zfactory) I got the impression that Callum Guy Oliver (aka phobosdeimos1) was a techbase man. Imagine my surprise when I loaded up Pallace Skorn, finding some never-was alien world more typical of Hexen's wild environments. It's crammed full of textures not native to Doom II (though you may recognize some of them, if not many) as well as, surprise surprise, some new monsters / weapons. The WAD has no story associated with it; it's just a Boom-compatible MAP01 replacement.

Happy 18th Birthday, Doom

Another year has come and gone and a dozen or so nominees lie smoking by the roadside. Congratulations to award winners and thanks to anyone who earnestly made anything during this period of Doom's life; indeed, in all periods. The biggest changes this year include a) the removal of the worst WAD award and Mock awards, and in their place installing the Best Gameplay Mod category, given to the ever-evolving Brütal Doom. Here's to another year of excellent releases! And, uh, Mordeth and Millenium. Keep on truckin'.

Also taking a moment to mention community members that were unfortunately lost this year, The Engineer and the patron saint of Legacy WADs, Jive. My condolences to their loved ones.

Doom 2 Unleashed (PC_CP.WAD)

Paul Corfiatis is a veteran Doom mapper, the author of ancient WADs like The Twilight Zone. Upon releasing his Whispers of Satan megaWAD with best Doom buddy Kristian Aro, he opted to start a community project, which debuted in 2011 as Doom 2 Unleashed. It's a forty map megaWAD whose last eight levels constitute their own episode, titled "No Hope for Peace". The scope of the project was restricted to maps that functioned in any limit-removing port and used only stock Doom II textures. I'm not entirely sure how the bonus episode is handled outside of ports that support maps in excess of 32, let alone custom episode definitions, but in ZDoom NHFP shows up as a selectable episode, backed by the soundtrack from Inferno.

Zfactory (ZFACTORY.WAD)

ZFACTORY
by Callum Guy "phobosdeimos1" Oliver

Zfactory is Callum Guy Oliver's (aka Doomworld forum superstar phobosdeimos1) first foray into wadbuilding, a speedmapped MAP01 replacement for ZDoom. The map doesn't use any of Zdoom's gameplay features, instead taking advantage of ZDoom's format idiosyncrasies, including a new (edited) titlepic. Zfactory has no plot; it's just a small techbase-style map clocking in at 56 monsters. They're mostly smaller trash, but cacodemons and mancubuses will grace your final moments as you make your way to the map exit.

Requiem (REQUIEM.WAD)

Most of these authors should look familiar to you. Requiem gathered some of the greatest "star" power when it came to megaWAD authors of the time. Some of the names you may recognize from Memento Mori / MM2, and others from STRAIN and Dystopia 3. And, of course, there are a few new faces, as always seems to be the case with these community projects. The show-stealers for this particular project appear to be Iikka Keranen and Anthony "Adelusion" Czerwonka who together might as well have released Dystopia 4 in disguise. Adam Windsor contributes a fair number of maps as well, but all but one of them are short but sweet affairs, singled out by some as filler speedmaps made to push Requiem to release (given an apparently troubled development, not unlike STRAIN and The Talosian Incident).

Mordeth (Episode 1) (MORDETH.WAD)

Mordeth's first episode was released in 1997. The rest of the project has been in development ever since. It's been so notorious for its delays (all understandable) that the Cacowards have a category named in its honor, dedicated to the released project with the longest development time. Duke Nukem Forever, the butt of gamer jokes everywhere, was announced and released during Mordeth's development. At the very least, Gaston Lahaut can take solace in the fact that Mordeth (now being developed for the Eternity Engine) will be far more enjoyable than Duke Nukem Forever, not that that's saying much.

Kick Attack! (KICKDM.WAD and KICKDM2.WAD)

KICK ATTACK!
by Tim Willits and the
Digital Marketing Associates for Kick

Many Doomers are familiar with Chex Quest. But are you familiar with id's flirtation with Kick? Kick Attack! is an interesting footnote in Doom's history. It seems the folks at the Royal Crown Company were looking for a way to market their new citrus softdrink (a la Mountain Dew and Sprite) digitally and the person they hired had the brains to suggest a partial conversion for id's Doom to sell along with the soft drinks (but available on its own at the marketing website). A meeting happened, id gave them their blessing (in exchange for a lot of Kick), and suggested that the company have Tim Willits make the map. Throw in a bunch of goofy graphics later, and you have Kick Attack! for Doom and Doom II.

The Serenity series

THE SERENITY SERIES
by Holger Nathrath and Bjorn Hermans

as featured in Super Serials

Serenity	Eternity	Infinity
Arachna	Trydent	SER3LV11
	STRAIN

Holger Nathrath, alongside best buddy and playtester Bjorn Hermans, stand together as two of the most loved '94-'95 PWAD developers, rivaling only Dennis and Thomas Moeller. Their Serenity trilogy spans three episodes for the original Doom and three titles' worth of abstract concepts ending in -ity, but only two years, with Serenity and Eternity seeing release in '94 and Infinity in 1995. And there would have been more! Nathrath and Hermans had two Doom II projects in the pipeline, one a conversion of all the existing Serenity levels to Doom II (perhaps with some more?) and the other an original Doom II megaWAD. We only have scraps available of the latter, namely Bjorn Hermans' own Trydent and Nathrath levels that were donated to other projects, most notably STRAIN with others shopped around to other ambitious projects that never saw release (like the Eternity TC - no official relation).

STRAIN (STRAIN.WAD)

STRAIN is a 32-map partial conversion created by the Alpha Dog Alliance, a loose confederation of Doom enthusiasts, many of them fairly prolific in the community at the time. While some I recognize from their individual works, others are familiar contributors to the community WADs of the past (MM and MMII) and then present (Requiem). STRAIN was in production for quite some time; Patterson (the project director) spoke of work stalling while a number of 1996 high-profile WADs were released (some of their authors also contributing to STRAIN!). Fortunately, STRAIN saw a release, and though it has a few very short levels and some donations (from the cancelled Serenity IV project and Dystopia 3), it would still be worth your attention if half the WAD went missing.

CHORD_NG (CHORD_NG.WAD)

CHORD_NG
by Malcolm Sailor

CHORD_NG (previously referred to as CHORD: The Next Generation) is one of a few levels in Malcolm Sailor's CHORD series, the maps of which he claims are the only good ones he's ever made. If that's the case, then I gather that Sailor prizes very hard and very fast gameplay, because that's what CHORD_NG (replacing MAP28 of Doom II) is all about, playing something like a Hell Revealed map on a much smaller scale. There's no story, just you and some Hellish battlements isolated in a sea of lava. Alignment, lighting and all that jazz is impeccable. Sailor emphasizes his tower theme by surrounding the main island with four smaller structures in the distance to place the map outside of a void. Enough about the visuals, though.

The Talosian Incident (TALOSIAN.WAD)

The Talosian Incident is a 20-map megaWAD for Doom II by Black Star Coven, an organization consisting of a number of Doom authors who intended this to be their farewell to the Doom community, in search of browner pastures. From what I can tell, it was supposed to be longer (probably the full 32 maps) but, well, here we are! Most of the maps are courtesy of John "Gestalt666" Bye and Malcolm Sailor (eight and nine, respectively) with a few other authors contributing one map each (including a collaboration with Ola Bjorling), and almost all of the new, atmospheric music by Bye. As an interesting sidenote, few of these authors would actually end their Doom mapping careers with this release.

Hell's Eventide (EVENTIDE.WAD)

HELL'S EVENTIDE
by Marty Ihlen, Travers Dunne and Rick Clark

Hell's Eventide is a product of tag-team mapping between Marty Ihlen, Travers Dunne and Rick Clark. The tremendous trio passed the WAD from member to member after modifying it, creating a medium-size map for Doom II with its own particular Hellish style. The story is a little muddled but the protagonist appears to have witnessed the downfall of his father's kingdom to the forces of evil, brought on by a jealous subject, an adviser named Hilsgarde. The result rended time and space in such a way that future, past and present commingled, resulting in a twisted, broken world. The narrator thus resolves to fulfill his father's dying wish, now that he's older, and slay the source of evil, thus returning things to their proper place.

Eternal Doom (ETERNAL.WAD)

Eternal Doom began life as a 12-map episode for Doom II, produced by Team Eternal and under the direction of Paul Schmitz, the author of Artifact and Welcome to Hell. A number of WAD authors cleaved unto him, including Sverre Kvernmo, who is responsible for many of the new graphics (that is, the stuff not ripped from Heretic and Hexen). Eternal Doom was updated two more times, adding fifteen and six levels, respectively, to turn it into a mega-megaWAD. I know this project eventually came under the purview of Team TNT, but I have no idea when that happened. I'm guessing some time during the development of Eternal Doom II, but I have no basis for that assumption. For sure, Eternal Doom III was headed by TNT, given Ty Halderman's involvement.

ESW2 (ESW2.WAD)

Doom's appeal has always had an international flair, and while it was tougher to suss out during the early years there's a decent chance of finding Doomers who speak your own language. The Russian community is the largest such example that I can think of, but other more tightly-knit groups include French, Czech, and Japanese. The producers of ESW2, if the names and email address are any indication, hail from the South American country of Chile. The 10-level Doom II PWAD, released in 1995, takes its title from the handle of the main contributor - David Jander aka ESW - who made seven of the included maps. I suppose that the other three authors for the other three maps are his friends.

Welcome to Hell (WELHELL.WAD)

Paul Schmitz created Artifact, one of Doomworld’s picks for the top 10 WADs of 1995. He also contributed some maps to Eternal Doom, very much in keeping with his mapping style. Welcome to Hell, his lesser-known followup to his premiere trilogy, is something in a bit of a different direction, finished near the end of '95 but released in early '96. It’s not exactly one large map cut up into three linked adventures. Each of the levels is fairly small and / or short compared to the offerings of Artifact. Schmitz has refined his map making sensibilities, however, creating a number of challenges with a unique aesthetic sense.

Dawn of the Dead (DODEAD.WAD)

Dawn of the Dead is an episode replacement for Doom's Knee Deep in the Dead. Well, almost an episode replacement. Jan Van der Veken never finished E1M5 (at least, for this episode), so it's more like 8 maps. The story takes place on Jupiter's moon, Europa, where simple lifeforms were discovered, leading to attempts to terraform the planet (I mean, that would probably kill all the native species, but whatever). The end goal was to colonize the moon, and at the "current" time, there's a burgeoning population complete with a contingent of space marines. Of course, they managed to discover relics from a past civilization that mastered teleportation technology (sploops!) and, later, some manuscripts containing vague warnings (double sploops!). And, now, the moon's colonies have (mostly) overrun by an unknown hostile force. Owing to your expertise, you're sent in to deal with the situation.

New Update at DoomX.net

Oh, hey! Eriance's evil twin updated a few days ago, mostly to say that he's slowly chipping away at his magnum opus (and talking about Rage, which I love). DoomX and Demon Eclipse are my two watched Mordeth-esque projects, and coincidentally, Eriance recently pushed out a new beta of his pet project as well. It's a great time to be playing Doom, especially with all the user projects going on, like Doom Core, Reverie, Back to Saturn X, Community Chest 4, Doom the Way id Did, 1994 Community Tune-Up Project, Plutonia Revisited, TNT2: Devilution, Doom Unleashed, Progressive Fiction, Interception, and that's just the megaWADs I can name off the top of my head, not to forget the wonderful work of Paul DeBruyne, or Kaiser pushing out Doom64Ex (already garnering some user-made maps). Actually, there's just new stuff being made every day for Doom. It's one of the greatest gaming communities to buy into.

The Cabal Series

THE CABAL SERIES
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

as featured in Super Serials

Bloodsea Keep	Derelict Station	Bloodflood	The Watchtower
Temple of Death	We Who are About to Die	The Express Elevator to Hell	Eye of the Storm
Mephisto's Maosoleum	Black Tower	The Image of Evil

If Sverre Kvernmo is known for anything, it would be his body of works included in id's Master Levels for Doom II. Less people may know that these works were parts of a work-in-progress megaWAD entitled "The Cabal", which Kvernmo stopped developing when contracted by id. Ever the gentleman, he gathered up the remaining maps and released them to the archives as Cabal 1-7. Together with his four (er, five) Master Levels, they represent one third of his unfinished magnum opus. Though part of me wonders what might have happened if Kvernmo had completed his project, I recognize enough of a quality gap between the freely available maps and his contracted work that I'm grateful for the intervention. I'm sure the experience coupled with his natural talent created the base upon which he built his three astounding Eternal Doom entries.

Hell Revealed (HR.WAD)

Hell Revealed was designed to be hard. Let's just get this out of the way. Donner and Niv, the WAD's architects (I believe hailing from Israel), used skill level 4 to create a difficulty level for those who found Ultra-Violence in other PWADs to be easy, using skill level 3 to provide a setting more in line with the previous UV standard. However, to quote Donner:

"...some people never bother to use skill level selections, and always play on Ultra-Violence. These people see that Hell Revealed is too hard for them on Ultra-Violence but instead of playing on skill 3 or even lower, they just say 'Hell Revealed is too hard' and switch to godmode or don't play at all. To me it seems really stupid - after all, that's what difficulty levels are for!"

The Image of Evil (THE_EVIL.WAD)

THE IMAGE OF EVIL
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

The Image of Evil is the final map in Sverre Kvernmo's Cabal series. It's a MAP30 replacement, serving as the intended climax of the now defunct megaWAD. The map represents a temple in tribute to a demon, the first to slay an angel in Cabal's universe, named Lithlaar. It also houses the current Cyberdemon that rules Hell, as well as his two soulguards (two other Cyberdemons, I believe). The map features a variety of textures, tending toward a more earthy / wooden theme with some excursions. If you didn't already know it by now, the level's structure is in the shape of a classic, slightly comic devil. You know, the kind that has horns, a goatee and red tights. In Kvernmo's own words, "Cowards go IDBEHOLDA as soon as they enter. Good players will see it evolve." Of course, if you find the automap secret fairly early on, the image autocompletes. Still, it's fascinating to see the map unfold.

Black Tower (BLACKTWR.WAD)

BLACK TOWER
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

Black Tower is the final map of the Cabal series to be included in id's Master Levels for Doom II. In the storyline, you're nearing the end of your long journey, this time confronting the lord of the Black Tower, former friend and Cyberdemon Chagrin, who leads the forces of Hell you once commanded. All you have to do is climb the Tower, the nexus of all of Hell's black magic and supernatural forces, slay your buddy, and escape. It's a task easier said than done, of course, as the Black Tower is more fully staffed than any entrenchment of the Cabal to date (except maybe the Temple of Death).

Mephisto's Maosoleum (MEPHISTO.WAD)

MEPHISTO'S MAOSOLEUM
by Sverre Andre Kvernmo

Mephisto's Maosoleum is another MAP07 replacement for id's Master Levels for Doom II by Sverre Andre Kvernmo. However, where the previous map (Bloodsea Keep) made no specific use of tag 666, this map (like "Dead Simple") is based around it. In the context of the Cabal series, the player (the previous ruler of Hell, ousted by his own advisers) wanders across the tomb of his old mentor, Mephisto, the head of the Cabal prior to the main character. Apparently, though Mephisto had been ousted and slain, his spirit still sat on the council, and he was in on your betrayal. Accordingly, when you happen upon his grave, you decide to exact revenge by laying both body and mind to rest.