Installation B (AP_013.WAD)

INSTALLATION B

by Alex Parsons

For better or worse this is the final standalone release in the World's End series. The levels spanned eleven individual publications with another two appearing within the original Community Chest. Alex had an epic adventure in mind based on the short, punchy descriptions and titles. He lost the thread around the same time that he started looking into a new theme, though, leaving us with a handful of small but competent techbase levels. Installation B, released in 2003, is a limit-removing level for Doom II. Parsons teased a "C" in the series but neither it nor the more relevant AP_10.WAD ever materialized.

The Catacombs (AP_009.WAD)

THE CATACOMBS

by Alex Parsons

AP_009 is the ninth entry in the World's End series and is the last to feature in sequential order. Alex never released parts 010-012, instead skipping ahead to 012 and 013 (Installation A and B). We also know that Parsons considered his two Community Chest submissions, "Ground Floor" (MAP03) and "Mandrel" (MAP11), as 015 and 016, respectively. Like the rest, The Catacombs is a Doom II MAP01 replacement for limit-removing ports. It was released in 2002 but has a couple of interesting deviations. The most obvious is that it draws direct inspiration from American McGee's level of the same name. It's the first time for the author to reference any sort of influence. He also explicitly suggests that players use idmus to play something other than D_RUNNIN. Specifically, MAP22's "The David D. Taylor Blues".

Mossvale Dungeons (AP_008.WAD)

MOSSVALE DUNGEONS

by Alex Parsons

Alex made a bunch of maps for his World's End series but he's probably known better for being a contributor to the first Community Chest. His peers Gene Bird and Sphagne submitted levels that they had originally released as standalone singles. Parsons's maps are however exclusively available as part of CCHEST. I dunno whether they were sitting on his hard drive before he submitted them or if he made "Ground Floor" and "Mandrel" specifically for the 2003 project and then retroactively dubbed them a part of World's End. Whatever the case, Mossvale Dungeons is the eighth level in the series and was published back in 2002. Like most of his solo stuff, it's a MAP01 replacement for Doom II and targets limit-removing ports.

Mossvale Estate (AP_007.WAD)

MOSSVALE ESTATE

by Alex Parsons

The original Community Chest had a variety of reasons to be notable. One of them was the inclusion of levels by authors like Gene Bird and Sphagne which had been previously and individually released as parts of their own solo serials. Alex Parsons differed from the others in that his two such contributions - part of his World's End series - debuted in CCHEST and remain exclusive to it to this day. Mossvale Estate is the seventh part of his tour of duty. Like all the rest, it is a MAP01 replacement and is meant for play in a limit-removing port. I didn't see any necessity for robust Z collision a la AP_007 but your mileage may vary.

Sinistrad (AP_005.WAD)

SINISTRAD

by Alex Parsons

AP will not go down in Doom history as one of its greatest authors but he was a solid contributor during the source port boom. Part of his legacy involves Doomworld's Community Chest series, the first of which he helped to round out. He was in like-minded company; Gene Bird and Sphagne were two other contributors who also released most of their levels as single map releases. Alex was building his World's End series, named after the first level in the set. Two of its entries are exclusive to CCHEST but this one - Sinistrad - is not. AP_005 is of course the fifth part of the sequence and, like the rest, is a MAP01 replacement for Doom II for play in a limit-removing port.

Foul Ruin (AP_004.WAD)

FOUL RUIN

by Alex Parsons

AP was a pretty cool dude who made a bunch of maps starting in 2002. His World's End series was named for the first of the set and spans twelve levels, two of which were only released as part of the original Community Chest alongside other craft single makers like Gene Bird and Sphagne. Foul Ruin is the fourth entry. As is the case with the majority of his /idgames uploads it's a MAP01 replacement published in 2002. It's also probably not compatible with the original Doom. I don't think that it uses any ZDoom-specific features but it was Alex's only testing port. It should work in any limit-removing .EXE.

The Outlands (AP_003.WAD)

THE OUTLANDS

by Alex Parsons

The World's End series is mostly notable because a couple of its levels were exclusively released as part of the original Community Chest. It had similar company in the works of Gene Bird (Blind Alley) and, to a lesser extent, Sphagne. The Outlands is the third level in the series, following World's End - for which the sequence of releases is named - and The Underground. As was the case with the previous entries, it was released in 2002 and is a MAP01 replacement for Doom II to be played in any limit-removing port. There are some other similarities, too, and they show that Parsons had a definite style coming out of the gate.

The Underground (AP_002.WAD)

THE UNDERGROUND

by Alex Parsons

Alex Parsons was one of the contributors to the original Community Chest. Most of his World's End series was released as single levels on the /idgames archives but two of the entries are only available as a part of CCHEST. The Underground, released mid-2002, is the second step of the journey and as was the case with AP_001 it is a MAP01 replacement for Doom II for play in a limit-removing port (even if it comes inside a folder called ZDoom). I hate to say it but I have a feeling that I'll be sick of D_RUNNIN all over again by the time I make it to Community Chest. It certainly looks that way from a perusal of the Mossvale Dungeon .TXT.

World's End (AP_001.WAD)

WORLD'S END

by Alex Parsons

Besides kicking off a Doomworld institution, the original Community Chest is notable for including levels that had been previously released on a serial basis or were intended as such. Alex Parsons was one of the big three and his particular solo series shares its title with the opening level - World's End. This is a MAP01 replacement for Doom II and can be presumably played in any limit-removing port, even if the folder inside its .ZIP archive is labelled "zdoom". The only guidance offered on that front is "advanced port needed"; the author hints at potential visplane overflows. I can vouch for it running fine in modern ZDoom, though, and I didn't see any sort of exclusive features.