The Darkening Episode 2 (DARKEN2.WAD)

In 1999, The Darkening team released the first episode of what was to presumably be more. In 2000, a clearly exhausted Ola Björling pushed the second episode out the door. We got twelve more levels for Doom II, an impressive set of brand-new textures to play around in (though not WITH for many years), and a complementary deathmatch-oriented episode. Gone was the voluminous prose in the .TXT, eliminating any story connections between Darkening's E1 and E2, eerily echoing the relationship between id's Quake and Quake II, a comparison even more relevant when one realizes that the aesthetics of the new textures (and bits of level design) clearly evoke Quake II where DARKEN's borrowed from Quake. The other downer was the announcement that there would be no third episode as the authors had either given up on mapping for Doom or moved on to other games. Amusingly, Jan and Adam are still around and mapping, along with Travers from the original episode. Keep it strong, guys!

Venom (VENOM.WAD)

VENOM
by Ola Björling

Before Ola released Tantrum 2, a remastering of his original Tantrum, he put out Venom, another MAP01 replacement for Doom II. The biggest noticeable difference between Tantrum (2) and Venom is that Tantrum is predominantly brown with a few green marble areas, whereas Venom is the opposite – mostly green marble with a few brown / tan brick sections. Otherwise, what you have contains much the same combat, if a bit toned down. As usual, Ola has no included storyline. Venom is just a celebration of the aesthetic pioneered in Thy Flesh Consumed.

Tantrum 2 (TANTRUM2.WAD)

TANTRUM 2
by Ola Björling

Ola Björling released the original Tantrum in early '96. Tantrum 2, released in '98, is a remake of the original, featuring most of the same layout but with improved structure, improved lighting, improved counters, everything. As with the original, it's a map composed of beige brick, brown metal, and a wee bit of green stone, mostly at the beginning and ending. There's no plot, of course. It's just another Doom II map. Well, "just another" is a little disingenuous, because it's an excellent level.

Tantrum (TANTRUM.WAD)

TANTRUM
by Ola Björling

Tantrum is Ola Björling's earliest available map, finished late '95 but released in '96. Tantrum enjoyed a sequel, of course, the 1998 Cacoward-winning Tantrum 2, and as someone noted on the archives, Tantrum is basically the PG-rated version with no nudity, no gore, and very little swearing (on both ends). It's a MAP01 replacement for Doom II in a brick and metal style, opening in a little marble chapel. For all the world, it reminds me of something John Anderson would make. Except, you know, not quite as polished.

The Talosian Incident (TALOSIAN.WAD)

The Talosian Incident is a 20-map megaWAD for Doom II by Black Star Coven, an organization consisting of a number of Doom authors who intended this to be their farewell to the Doom community, in search of browner pastures. From what I can tell, it was supposed to be longer (probably the full 32 maps) but, well, here we are! Most of the maps are courtesy of John "Gestalt666" Bye and Malcolm Sailor (eight and nine, respectively) with a few other authors contributing one map each (including a collaboration with Ola Bjorling), and almost all of the new, atmospheric music by Bye. As an interesting sidenote, few of these authors would actually end their Doom mapping careers with this release.