MAD STUFF FOR DOOM 2 (MAD.WAD)

In 2002 Paul Corfiatis had contracted a case of jokeWAD fever. Sure, the first glimpses were there with Elliot Goblet in 2001. SPACIA crystallized another side of pcorf, though, one looking to get some laughs from the community through absurdity whether it be porn in otherwise unremarkable space levels, garish MSPaint textures, or cumbersome sound replacements. MAD STUFF FOR DOOM 2 continues the trend in a different direction. The set attempts to leverage the simple AI of the monsters in order to fabricate situations where the player does not even need to fire a single shot and avoids both the smut and, for the most part, hideous colors. The .WAV files, however, are here to stay.

Paul describes the enemies as dumb and indeed they are. The cast's singlemindedness directs them to pursue the player without any care for their personal safety and attack regardless of whether fellow demonkind stand between them and the target. The resulting chaos thanks to infighting is one of the main reasons why Doom's gameplay feels unique to this day. Corfiatis takes the concept to an extreme where encounters are tailor-made to the disadvantage of the monsters. MAP02 for instance features an unwitting Spiderdemon getting torn to shreds by a line of chaingunners while Doomguy sits back under the relative protection of a partial invisibility artifact, cackling.

MAD is all about a series of setups, though, so the payoff is almost immediate and actual satisfaction is fleeting. My favorite moment by far was "Screamin' Cacos!" since most of the monsters that can actually hurt you die fairly quickly. This leaves you with one Cyberdemon in a relatively small area and a bunch of ineffectual pain elementals plus resulting lost souls on the outside. The exit is available from the beginning but I felt compelled to manipulate ol' Cybie into swatting every pest on the perimeter until only we were standing and I was obliged to go.

Lest you confuse this for something serious, Paul has included an ugly TITLEPIC and the same style of sound replacements found in SPACIA. I don't mind longer clips but the consideration involved in the incorporation of the snippets is dwarfed by comparison to the far superior Yak World, originally released in 1994. The Spackle Co. Ltd crew was much smarter about how they were funny, reserving the humorous sound bites for singular encounters and tailor-making them for the occasion. Admittedly, pcorf's Silly DOOM Space Adventure was much worse about beating you over the head through its use of audio clips. Not that Paul's fascination with a particular Asian caricature is any less apparent.

MAD STUFF doesn't reveal anything not already known to me but its singular devotion toward showing off scenarios that blatantly and immediately exploit the game's simple artificial intelligence is commendable. It may even open the eyes of players who don't usually consider exploiting infighting during combat. If nothing else, the use of a sprite derived from the author's personal vehicle got a chuckle out of me.

MAD STUFF FOR DOOM 2

by Paul Corfiatis

Cyber Teaser	MAP01
This is meant to demonstrate infighting, presumably because the weaker monsters have no fear at provoking the wrath of a Cyberdemon. It also shows - as we all learned from "The Crusher" - that the level geometry can be just as hazardous to the health of your enemies.

MAP02	Spider Torture
	Here Paul shows the already understood lethality of chaingunners as they shred a Spiderdemon to bits in very little time. The blur sphere is an integral part of the puzzle given all the hitscan attacks flying around.

My Car In Doom!	MAP03
An excuse to show off the author's wheels. The main showpiece is a "Gotcha!" scenario but the two titans will soften each other up to the point that the cretins lurking behind the firewall are capable of slaying the survivor. There is no need for the cadre of cacodemons in the exterior area.

MAP04	Screamin' Cacos!
	An outer brace of commandos quickly shreds an inner wall of pain elementals and red bigmouth floaty thingies. The fliers eventually win, though. Challenge mode: free the Cyberdemon and use his rocket fire to finish off all of the monsters outside your box. It's actually kind of fun!

Cacodemons are Dumb!	MAP05
A crossroads of infighting chicanery, sort of resembling The Incredible Machine. Except, of course, it demands no input from you. The gasbags attack the chaingunners when left to their own devices and are quickly slain. The heavy weapons dudes will in turn aim at you but hit the barrels in front of them, resulting in their demise.

MAP06	Singing the Blues
	Significant if for nothing else than occurring in a pastel blue pocket dimension. When the crusher starts on the rocketeers they will turn on you in their anguish. John Romero's head is nearby, though, and bringing splash damage to him is a very simple matter.

IT FINALLY HAPPENED

I'M SLIGHTLY MAD