Monday, March 28, 2016

Overdose 2: Comatose (COMATOSE.WAD)

COMATOSE
OVERDOSE 2
by "Lainos"


Way back in 2011, the now defunct Clan [B0S] released a Doom II adventure through a haunted, deserted world - Sacrament. Among its more visionary elements was an ornate city level titled "Doxylamine Moon". Responding to feedback, its author - Lainos - released a second version of the map, titled Doxylamine Moon: Overdose, which offered more gameplay and more of the world to explore. Now, in 2015, he's taken its spiritual sequel from the project it was in and which I haven't heard anything about until now - Pain - and released it. Thus did another Russian PWAD begot another Overdose. I guess you might call its full title Doxylamine Moon: Overdose 2: Comatose, but I'll be referring to it as Comatose from here on out.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Sharp Things (XA-SHARP.WAD)

SHARP THINGS
by Xaser Acheron


Xaser published three individual maps to the Doomworld forums in 2015, only one of which had its genesis in that year. Interestingly, the other two owe their existence to Battle of the Bits bouts from 2014 and 2013. Where 2014 had All Aboard the Mega Magilla Gorilla Flotilla, 2013 takes things in a different direction - Sharp Things. For starters, the level is for the original Doom, being an E1M1 replacement. It's also a bit longer, and not completely soaked with damage floors. No; where XA-GORIL explores the economy of movement in Doom, XA-SHARP is about running around like an astronaut and liberally hosing everything with plasma.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

All Aboard the Mega Magilla Gorilla Flotilla (XA-GORIL.WAD)

ALL ABOARD THE MEGA
MAGILLA GORILLA FLOTILLA

by Xaser Acheron


Xaser is nothing if not industrious. While all of the big projects continue to drift at a glacial pace, he cranked out a handful of single level releases in 2015 to whet the appetites of those who have come to wait with baited breath. This little number is All Aboard the Mega Magilla Gorilla Flotilla. Kind of a mouthful, no? Actually, while XA-GORIL was "released" in 2015, it originates as part of a jam hosted by Battle of the Bits that wrapped up in late 2014. I see that it's got ten other compatriots, some of which are familiar faces. Interesting! Gorilla is a MAP01 replacement that should be playable in your source port of choice, supposing that it isn't some crazy engine that's more broken than vanilla.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Realm 667 Doomjá-vu Competition

DOOMJÁ-VU
hosted by Realm667

as featured in Super Serials

Mouldy Old VoidPut Up Your Dukes!
dead.wireBlack Magnetic
The Heart of StoneCelestial Site

If you think about it, in a certain way, just about every community project is some kind of a competition, where managing to get a level in the running order is the reward. And then, you get events like Doomworld's 10 Sectors, which had almost 150 submission and actual prizes. Daniel Gimmer, aka Tormentor667, decided to do his own little contest in 2015 - Doomjá-vu. The grand prize was Spikey, a custom-made plush imp, but there were prizes all the way down to 5th place. The way things turned out, well, Torm only had six entries, so it almost turned out that everyone got a prize just for showing up. Ah, well, sucks to be that sixth guy!

Friday, March 4, 2016

Mouldy Old Void (MOLDYOLDVOID.PK3)

MOULDY OLD VOID
by "zrrion the insect"


zrrion doesn't have the biggest back catalog, but he's still got a pretty good reputation as a GZDoom map author. As far as I know, he was pretty quiet after the release of ZDCMP2, showing some work on a Hexen level, but that all changed in 2015. Tormentor kicked off a contest where authors would take a deconstructed layout based on Doom's E1M7 and build a map off it. The end result was six interestingly varied GZDoom levels, with zrrion ultimately winning the vote with Mouldy Old Void. As with the rest of its peers, it's a MAP01 replacement. And, like the others, zrrion has brought his own incalculable character, contributing to Doomja Vu's rich patchwork of experiences.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The Core (A_CORE.WAD)

THE CORE
by "zrrion the insect"


zrrion built up a nice little portfolio in 2012, paving the way toward his eventual inclusion as one of the guiding forces behind the ZDoom Community Map Project Take Two. After exploding with a big ol' Realm 667 showcase in The Void of Hell, he followed up with a more muted showing in The Blood of Virgins, which used GZDoom to enhance what would otherwise be - I think - a traditional experience. The Core is, then, a more substantial experience, a larger level with about three times as many monsters to chew through. Like its predecessors, it was released in 2012 and targeted GZDoom. The pacing and layout leave it with a feeling more akin to adventure maps, though, than anything that has come before.