The Blood of Virgins (V_BLOOD.WAD)

THE BLOOD OF VIRGINS
by "zrrion the insect"

zrrion's first major release was a sort of minisode adventure in the black void between worlds - The Void of Hell. It wasn't the only thing he did in 2012, though. The Blood of Virgins is in many respects a more traditional experience when compared to the mini-TC feel of HVOID. It's also a single level, apparently inspired by a song by Swedish Doom Metal band, Candlemass - "A Sorcerer's Pledge". As with pretty much anything else the dude has done, you'll need to play it back in GZDoom, though most of this level's geometry wouldn't be out of place in ZDoom.

The Void of Hell (HVOID.WAD)

zrrion has built up something of a reputation as a minor GZDoom sensation. Here he is, just starting out, with this little minisode for Doom II titled The Void of Hell, released in 2012. Apparently, this set owes its existence to ZPack; or, rather, ZPack's failure to embody the sort of black Hell of zrrion's own imagination. Embracing the principles of DIY, he decided to render his nightmare in his own image. The Void of Hell is actually pretty short as far as map packs go, consisting of two normal levels, a boss map, and a silly secret that involves, among other things, a Dalek. It also has its own story.

The Heart of Stone (THE HEART OF STONE.PK3)

THE HEART OF STONE
by "evil space tomato"

So. Tormentor may not be known as the most organized community organizer, but he sure knows how to kick a party off. Take 2015's Doomja Vu, for instance. The project kicked off with a lot of discussion on Doomworld, but the furor just seemed to evaporate once things got underway. At the end, with all the people giving their opinions, we only got six levels built around a sort of abstracted layout of E1M7 ("Computer Station"). This one is The Heart of Stone, from evil space tomato. Like every other entry, it's a MAP01 replacement for GZDoom. And, like some of the contestants, EST has given the action a bit of a framing story.

Put Up Your Dukes! (CLIFFBASE.WAD)

PUT UP YOUR DUKES!
by "Sgt. Shivers"

In 2015, Daniel Gimmer - aka the infamous Tormentor667 of Realm667 - decided to host a contest, complete with physical prizes. Doomja Vu gave players a streamlined and depersonalized layout of E1M7 and asked them to build a map around it, with some additional provisions. Of all the entries, Sgt. Shivers' is the least ambitious, but it's refreshing when compared against the space-bound labyrinth of Celestial Site. Put Up Your Dukes! (or, per the filename, CLIFFBASE) is a fun slice of arcade-style action that abandons pretty much any pretense of being Doom II.

Celestial Site (CSITE.WAD)

CELESTIAL SITE
by "DooMSkeR Scratch"

Tormentor hosted a competition in 2015 for some actual prizes. The goal - take a sort of generalized layout of Doom's E1M7 ("Computer Station") and turn it into something...else. Each author approached this in different ways, of course, and the few levels I've played so far are vastly divorced from one another. This particular entry is DooMSkeR Scratch's Celestial Site, named I believe for the fact that it occurs on a space station, you having just arrived by shuttle. The text file has zero setup for the action, but it doesn't really need any. It's about as simple as a big fuckoff starbase that's been invaded by Hell.

500 Reviews

by my reckoning, this blog is now at 500 reviews and almost five years of uptime. gosh, that's a long time and a lot of words to be writing about a twenty-two year old computer game. so, here is the request list from last year, with the completed stuff removed. feel free to make requests, unless you are BDL, because seriously. anyway, here's to another wonderful year of Doom.

2015 for posterity

SUGGESTIONS

Plutonia 2
Dark 7 / Dark 7 Mission Pack
Ultimate Simplicity
Massmouth / Massmouth 2 / Massmouthmas
Scythe / Scythe 2 / Scythe X
Dolphin's Dream
Unhinged
Castle of Eternal Carrot in the Sky
City of the Damned: Apocalypse
Virus: Episode One
Super Sonic Doom
Oniria 1 / Oniria 2
Happy Time Circus 1 / Happy Time Circus 2
Dark Hell
Hellcore 2.0
Claustrophobia: The Walls Close In
Junko
Grime
Elysion
Disturbia
Cheogsh / Cheogsh 2 / Realm of Cheogsh
NeoDoom
Alien Flower (RDC Freakmapping #5)
Caverns of Darkness
Paranoid
The Darkest Hour
Sinful Discharge (Heretic)
Gulag (Heretic)
Curse of D'Sparil (Heretic)
Codename HYENA Killermachine
Plutinya 1024
The Crypts
Town of Witchcraft (Heretic Treasure Chest)
Cassie Steele
The Experiment
Balls
One Bloody Night
e6y3
hellrun.WAD (Doom / Doom II)
Istanbul
Nordhell
Phoebe
RRWARD01 / RRWARD02 / RRWARD03 / RRWARD04
Scimitar
SJS1: Streets of Fear
Triad Experimental Corporation
Kama Sutra
Community Chest / Community Chest 2
Vrack 1 / Vrack 2 / Vrack 3
Deus Vult
The Abyss
Slugfest / Torment / Phobos: Relive the Nightmare
Marswar
SlayeR
TVR!
World of DETH
Post
Nerves of Steel
Impure Offering
1 Monster
Action Doom / Action Doom 2
Deus Vult II
Hellcore
Equinox
Armadosia: The Mad Corridor
Hellfire / Hellfire: Reborn / Hellfire: Dreams
5 Years
Jade Earth
Sacrifice in Blood
The Corrupt Priest
Doom: A Megawad in Two Weeks
Mayhem 2012 / Mayhem 2013
Legacy of Heroes
Infested Outpost


COMEDY OPTIONS

Doomguy's pimp ventures II: The More,The Merrier.
pol.wad
School Doom II
21ratmaz
AOL Girls Museum
Duke Nukem Level Conversion
ZBlood
Otakon
Doom Center
Dawn of Reality
The Ghoul's Forest 3
The Mystery of the Marie Celeste
Calgon, Take me away!
RTC-3057
Nimrod: Project Doom
Phocas Island 2
Pinochetstein GL
Doom 3: Mr. Smiley's Head Safari


PROMISES

Wonderful Doom
2002: A Doom Odyssey
Claustrophobia 1024
Titan 2
Titan 1024


IT CAME FROM THE COMMENTS SECTION

Claustrophobia 1024 2: The Mystery of Too Many Maps
Bloodworks
Mitnal
The Hub
cwave.wad
The Ultimate Torment and Torture
Stronghold: On the Edge of Chaos
ZPack: Random Maps for ZDoom
Knee Deep in ZDoom
Community Chest 3
Classic Episode 2: Singularity Complex
Flashback Demo 1 / Flashback Demo 2
Urania


TUMBLR TRAVAILS

Reign of the Spider Gods
Demons of Problematique / Demons of Problematique 2
Whispers of Satan

DELAYED-SION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
(hidden for your sanity)

Respawned: Back From Hell
Doom: Redemption
Inferno
Phobos: Anomaly Reborn
The Dying End
~The Complete Works of Paul Corfiatis~ / Death Tormention / Verada / Big Boy / PC_PLAN / PC_WOLF / The Twilight Zone II: Final Dreams / Toxin Refinery /  Death Tormention II / Vectra / SELFISH1 / SELFISH2 / SELFISH3 / Candy Choppers / Elliot Goblet / 0scraps / SPACIA: A Silly DOOM Adventure / MAD STUFF FOR DOOM 2 /
~The Complete Works of Kristian Aro~ / The Brotherhood of Ruin /
~The Complete Works of Chris Hansen~ / The Revenge of Avind / The Blessed Hex / The Unknown Chasm / A Time to Face Your Fears / Quail / The Aqueous Rise and Fall / UAC Nukage Processing Area / Antithesis / Fait Accompli / That Urban Sence / The Unaided Eye / Flay the Obscene / Flay the Obscene - Part Two / Flay the Obscene - Part Three / CH Retro / CH Retro Episode / Rip It, Tear It, Smash It! / 2002: A Doom Odyssey /
No Rest For the Living
Chex Quest
Paranoia
Paranoiac
Something Wicked This Way Comes / Wickedly Simple / No Rest for the Wicked / For the Wicked Shall Perish / Death Comes Not Gently to the Wicked / The Wicked and the Damned / Wicked Be the Ways of Men / Damnation Awaits the Wicked / Exalt Not the Wicked
Planet Phobos / Planet Hell
Innocence / Innocence 2 / Innocence 3 / Innocence: TNT / Innocence X
~The Abyssal Speedmapping Sessions~ / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 1 / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 2 / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 3 / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 4 / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 5 / Abyssal Speedmapping Session 6 /
Congestion Control / Congestion Control 2
~The Complete Works of Memfis~ / Voyage to Deimos map02 / Kashimir / Sticky Blood / Requimem / Not In My Courtyard / Green Day / MEM_OLD1 / Kurogane / MM2MEM01 / Relive X2 / ICARUMEM / Menkui / Tayutayu / Beware of False Prophets / Kukuku / Overheat / Horalky / Gordia / Love You With Poison / Toilet Break / 
NewDoom Community Project / NewDoom Community Project 2
Harmony
A Taste For Blood
Endless Torture
King Dime's Birthday Mapset
~The Complete 40oz Birthday Map Collection~
Favillesco Episode 1: Genuflected on Io / Episode 2: Tragedy Over Europa / Alpha Episode: Apostasy on Amalthea / Alpha Episode 2: Desecration On Thebe
Matt Tropiano Birthday Maps
Happy Birthday TMD!
NOVA 2
Arcadia Demade
Drip Feed
Valhalla
Epic 2 + Anything else Eternal made between 2007-2010 (excluding Long Days)
Beyond Revival
Hell Ground
Mapgame
Gravity
Eternal Doom IV
Back to Basics
Cold as Hell
Epic
Songs of the Damned
IC2005
Vae Victus (2)
Decade
Tremor (Part I: Genesis)
Phobos Revisited
Plutonium Winds
Doom Raider: Crypt of the Vile
Ruma
007: License to Spell Doom
Sin City / Sin City 2 / Sin City 3
Null Space
Doom: Resurrection
Threshold of Pain
Monument
Sacrifice Episode
Argus
Pax
Induction
Monument
Jared's Doom
Sharp Things
All Aboard the Mega Magilla Gorilla Flotilla
Pcorf Community Project 2: 2048 Unleashed
Jiffy Bag
Bloodstain
Tech Gone Bad
Freudian Slipgate
EndGame
Infected Area
KILL! Zone / KILL! Zone 2
Sillouhettes of Phobos
Dinner
Beyond Horrible
Nuke Mine
Deimos Deja Vu
Realm of Shades
DemoniZed
Azagtoth
Crimson Canyon
Rylayeh
The Invaders
Knee Deep in the Undead
Styx
Can't Run Frm Evil
Sinister Intention
Sparta
Spire
Baker's Dozen
Imperfection Has Its Charms
Data Center
Dark Resolution 2008
Hatoma Battles the Yomi Demons
The Spire
No Sleep for the Dead
Doom the Way id Did: The Lost Episodes
Sins of the Flesh
Urotsuki 2: Cargo Cult
The Artifact (Boom Edition)
Suitcase of Gor
Japanese Community Project
Mayhem 1500
Ancient Aliens
Somewhere in Time
Nex Credo
Extinguished

Black Magnetic (BLACKMV13.WAD)

BLACK MAGNETIC
by "Angry Saint"

Daniel Gimmer's 2015 Doomja Vu contest resulted in six brand new levels based on a sort of deconstruction of "Computer Station"'s (E1M7) layout. But, well, "level" hardly describes any of these offerings. Angry Saint's Black Magnetic is still Doom to the core, but with some important differences in gameplay based on his custom bestiary, and looking very different due to widespread 3D floors and almost exclusive use of Pawel Zarcynski's NMN Corporation textures. The end result is a pretty unique experience that reminds me of Enjay's Gene-Tech, insofar as it's a microcosm distilled into a single map.

The Ultimate Doom (DOOM.WAD)

Doom wasn't originally a retail release; while id left the bosom of Apogee, it was still invested in the shareware model. When GT Interactive finally got around to producing a boxed copy, someone had the outstanding idea to include an additional, fourth episode. Some might call it an incentive; since a patch was released that upgraded Doom 1.9 to The Ultimate Doom, I'd call it more of a celebration. In either case, in 1995, we got nine more official levels for the original Doom. One of the authors - Romero - was part of the original crew. This is Thy Flesh Consumed.