Timelessness (Tribute to Fear Factory) (TIMELESS.WAD)

TIMELESSNESS

TRIBUTE TO FEAR FACTORY

by Andy Leaver

Andy Leaver is the only Doomworld member to have contributed to all four iterations of the Community Chest series. When he wasn't making Doom II levels, though, he was carrying a huge torch for original Doom maps. bitebwad, his debut, featured low-key E1 action in straightforward, abstract layouts. His levels in 2001's No Hope For Life Episode 1 consisted of novel constructions with the Phobos texture scheme and 2002's Indifference continued in more or less the same vein. Timelessness, an E1M3 replacement for the original Doom released in 2003, is an overt homage to John Romero's "Computer Station" (E1M7).

TIMELESS does not have a given story - Andy was never much on providing one - but it does have a subtitle. The whole digimort conundrum between bitebwad and NHFL was solved here by some cursory googling. Fear Factory is an industrial metal band, I assume one of Leaver's most favorite given that he declared this map a tribute to them. The title of this level as well as four of No Hope For Life's map names come from songs on Fear Factory's 1998 and 2001 releases. I suppose that it may have made more sense to declare this a tribute to "Computer Station", but Andy picked an appropriate title given the perennial adulation given toward Knee Deep in the Dead.

This is a fairly large base level, much like E1M7. Andy, though, has stocked up the opposition with something like half again as many monsters as Romero's map. It's all shareware, as was the case with Indifference, and nary a Baron to be found. Timelessness feels visually interconnected with all of the nukage-facing windows but there is less overall threat through player-neglected viewports. The major exception is a winding gauntlet through imp- and zombie-infested lands that brings the element of a penultimate climax through shades of "The Living End". It's easy to feel overwhelmed at first since the opposition is so numerous and you are free to pursue something like five different directions with beasties gumming up each one.

Plus, Leaver has a handful of high-density monster closets for you to tangle with, usually associated with major progression points. This is a calling card of Andy's mostly in how rarely little, "surprise" closets are used, coupled with the sheer bulk lurking in these spaces. Hellspawn are more poised to mob you as a horde, which is better in-keeping with the original Doom's "last marine" combat aesthetic. There is one super DoomCute thing going on right off the entrance. Leaver has two opposed zombie cavities blocked by three-piece piston-shutters. The hazard is irregular to deal with, dangerous to focus on during the opening shootout, and perilous to ignore.

Timelessness is a good-looking level. It feels like a slightly more detailed take on Knee Deep in the Dead with a lot of irregular hallway angles and room shapes as well as Leaver's simple but effective ambient lighting. As I look at this I also realize that, like Romero, Andy has tended to start his maps off with a strong symmetric core and - like "Computer Station" - they spin out from there into something more "organic". The general presentation of the map makes it recognizable as an E1M7 homage as lots of corridor-bound windows look out into an indoor nukage system. The flavor of the architectural embellishments is also there, including a consistent theme of bridges connecting the main western area to eastern annexes (flipped from the E1M7 arrangement).

Among the more overt homages include the circular elevator platform used to access secrets on either side of the bridge and the computer room with accessible upper area that houses a rocket launcher. Andy has also stuffed in the secret soul sphere but, in an interesting turn of events, it requires the blue key to fully traverse as its route cuts across and over the final leg of the map. The finale, with its aforementioned gauntlet, constitutes the greatest deviation from Romero's plan. I enjoyed its extended  shooting gallery assault, though, and the Sandy Petersen-esque access tunnel trifecta that follows gives you your closing shot of DoomCute.

The idea of it being a tribute to an industrial metal band is sort of undercut by using Rise of the Triad's "I Choose the Stairs" for its backing track. As a player, however, it signals to me that the action is going to be relatively light-hearted. And it is! If you're looking for some original Doom action and don't mind seeing strong echoes of "Computer Station" then you should give Timelessness a play.

I'VE FELT DARKNESS CLOSING IN ON ME

CHILLING SHADOWS SURROUNDING ME