Number One Kill The Next Generation (1KILLTNG.WAD)

Angelo Jefferson loved Doom, but it's also clear that he loved Star Trek. Number One Kill The Next Generation is a Doom II megaWAD released in 1997 clocking in at twenty-two levels. Jefferson claims it's actually twenty-three, with one of these maps actually counting as two. That's probably "Entryway", which has a massive secret annex. Anyway, Jefferson promised a Number One Kill The Final Frontier to round out the ending episode, but after about seventeen years it looks like it'll remain an Undiscovered Country. It's a curse, since Jefferson clearly had some talent when it came to map design, but a slight blessing, since many of the big fights in these levels don't seem remotely fair. As with his previous #1KILL, there is no story, just a lot of demons to kill.

Thy Flesh Turned Into a Draft-Excluder (DRAFTEX.WAD)

Cannonball debuted his first megaWAD, ConC.E.R.Ned, back in 2013. It was an OG Doom mapset that spanned three episodes worth of author growth. He followed up on the experience in 2014 with Thy Flesh Turned Into a Draft-Excluder, which pursued the Episode Four theme as rendered in Powell's own particular style. It's still limit-removing, much like his megaWAD, but there is a certain elegance in the architecture and combat that suggests that Cannonball has grown vastly as a mapper in the interim.

Nebula 95: Nebula Shrine (NEB01.WAD)

NEBULA 95:
NEBULA SHRINE
by Chris "lupinx-Kassman" Kassap

Nebula 95 is a curious amalgam of ideas from Doom visionary Chris Kassap, merging the divisive presentation of early PWADs (graphics, custom sounds, jazz MIDIs) with small levels and open layouts. If you're remembering the accolades received for his massive Community Chest 4 entries, these works will come as a shock. Nebula Shrine aka NEB01 is the first of the entries, officially released in 2014 and based off his MAP18 from Odamex Nitro Deathmatch. The plot of the series has you clearing out demons on micro-planetoids in a corner of the galaxy filled with a hallucinogenic gas dubbed Nebula 95.

200 Minutes of /vr/ (200MINVR.WAD)

While I spend a lot of my time there, Doomworld is far from being the only community hub for Doom. /vr/ is another such place of choice, a different board with a different set of sensibilities. 200 Minutes of /vr/ is a speedmapping challenge that started back in May of 2014; the goal was to get users to jump in the fire, so to speak, and contribute to a megaWAD of vanilla Doom II maps made in 200 minutes or less. And it succeeded! 200MINVR was released to the /idgames archives in early July 2014, and while it's still vanilla, some custom skies add much-needed flair alongside the occasional custom MIDI.

The Wailing Horde (WAILHORD.WAD)

THE WAILING HORDE
by Chris Hansen

Chris Hansen was part of the millennial wave of Doom authors, earning a place in history as one of the contributors to 2002: A Doom Odyssey before launching his own, highly-lauded mapping career. The Wailing Horde is as of this writing his latest solo release, a single level for Doom's E2M1 that's meant (but not guaranteed) to be compatible with pretty much any port, with potential VPOs being the main exception for vanilla players. WAILHORD has no story; "Just kill everything and do it well!"

Countdown to Extinction (TICKTOCK.WAD)

Obsidian spends a lot of time organizing the Abyssal Speedmapping sessions. As I recall, the Abyss was the home of some of the NewDoom expatriates, so it's nice to see some small part of that spurned community live on in its own fashion. Anyway, it's no wonder that someone knee deep in the speedmaps would build a speedmapped megaWAD. Where wunderkids like Khorus and Valkiriforce made each of their levels over the course of a few days, though, Obsidian knocked out each of these little offerings in one hour, tops. The final product is Countdown to Extinction, a full replacement of the Doom II megaWAD... with really tiny levels.

Deneb Colony (DENEB.WAD)

DENEB COLONY
by "Lainos"

Lainos was quiet during 2013 following a flurry of activity back in 2012, a year which saw his massive Object 34: Sonar, 5till L1 Complex, and A.L.T., where he was something of a producer, finishing off with a little tribute to Doxylamine Moon: Overdose called Lost Way. In 2014, he decided to drop another morsel on our laps, titled Deneb Colony. Like most of his maps, it's a single MAP01 replacement for Doom II to be played in Boom-compatible ports, prBoom+ preferred. It has more in common with Lost Way, though, in that it isn't the kind of visionary mastodon that he's known for.

Rush (RUSH.WAD)

I don't really think of Archi as a slaughtermapper, so imagine my surprise when he released Rush, an episode that had once aspired to be a megaWAD that is full of low-grade gory goodness. After an initial release in 2013, he tacked one last (huge) level in 2014 and released it as a twelve-map episode for Doom II, to be played in Boom-compatible ports. Everything works fine, up until MAP12, though. There are some nasty nodebuilding errors that bomb Eternity out and the exit doesn't work in ZDoom. The rest of the package as a hole is perfectly functional, though.