STRAIN (STRAIN.WAD)

STRAIN is a 32-map partial conversion created by the Alpha Dog Alliance, a loose confederation of Doom enthusiasts, many of them fairly prolific in the community at the time. While some I recognize from their individual works, others are familiar contributors to the community WADs of the past (MM and MMII) and then present (Requiem). STRAIN was in production for quite some time; Patterson (the project director) spoke of work stalling while a number of 1996 high-profile WADs were released (some of their authors also contributing to STRAIN!). Fortunately, STRAIN saw a release, and though it has a few very short levels and some donations (from the cancelled Serenity IV project and Dystopia 3), it would still be worth your attention if half the WAD went missing.

Serenity IV - MAP11 (SER3LV11.WAD)

SERENITY IV - MAP11
by Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath

Back in the late 90s, Sam "Metabolist" Woodman was putting together a project called "Testament of Judgment". Looking on the archives, it was never completed, but during development he asked for and received a WAD from Bjorn Hermans to use in his megaWAD. The WAD itself was constructed by Holger Nathrath (and I assume playtested by Hermans) in the vein of the original Serenity trilogy. Woodman couldn't figure out a good way to work it into his mapset, however, and decided to release it on its own. The map has no official title, but it was indicated to be MAP11 of "Serenity III" (though shouldn't it be Serenity IV?). So, I'll refer to it as MAP11 from here on out.

Trydent (TRYDENT.WAD)

TRYDENT
by Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath

Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath cranked out three Doom episodes early in the Doom community's history, known commonly as the Serenity trilogy. Afterward, they had two Doom II projects in progress that were never completed, Serenity For Doom II and Serenity IV. Whether the latter was to be a megaWAD or just an episode, we'll never know, but we do have a few levels that were originally designed for Serenity IV but were released independently following its death. Trydent, a MAP01 replacement published in 1995, is one such offering. As with Arachna, Hermans and Nathrath's duties are switched; here, Hermans is the mapper and Nathrath his playtester.

Arachna (ARACHNA.WAD and ARACHNA2.WAD)

ARACHNA
by Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath

Bjorn Hermans and Holger Nathrath are well-known in the Doom community for their Serenity trilogy, released over '94 and '95. Their body of work outside Serenity, however, is fairly light. They were apparently in the process of converting Serenity over to Doom II as well as releasing a Serenity episode entirely for Doom II, but both projects halted. Arachna is one of the few shreds of their work left, and surprisingly, it's by Bjorn Hermans! Nathrath did all the major mapping for the Serenity trilogy, so I found it interesting to see what Hermans was capable of. It comes in two flavors, Doom and Doom II, both being released around the same time in 1995 as E3M1 and MAP01, respectively.

Infinity (INFINITY.WAD)

Infinity, published in 1995, rounds out the end of Bjorn (tester) and Holger's (mapper) episode replacements, this one taking the place of E1. It's got all the -ity features: music replacements (ha!), lines that block monster movement (usually the same lines that mark dynamic lighting), and goofy mazes. Finally, and most importantly, Bjorn and Holger made sure every map was readily completable from pistol start this time around. E1M8 is still kind of hard, but for different reasons. You still have some ammo show up sans weapons, but rarely to the effect of the previous episodes.

Eternity (ETERNITY.WAD)

One month later and still in 1994, Bjorn Hermans (tester) and Holger Nathrath (mapper) followed up their Serenity Episode 3 replacement with an Episode 2 replacement titled Eternity. As before, there is no story or thematic consistency to this collection, just a bunch of goofy titles. This mapset is a step up in composition and difficulty from their freshman effort, but I feel that the map detailing is a bit more generic, lacking some of the interesting designs like the large pit room from "R U Lonesome?" or the movie theatre gimmick from "Doom -- The Movie". It's a pretty solid set, though, with a few caveats.

Serenity (SERENITY.WAD)

Published in 1994, Serenity is among the first of many episode replacements for Doom that have cropped up since its release. Tested by Bjorn Hermans and mapped by Holger Nathrath, it's also the first of a trilogy of episode replacements, continued in Eternity (Episode 2) and ending in Infinity (Episode 1). Serenity doesn't attempt to follow the themes of Inferno in spite of being an Episode 3 replacement. Nor does it have anything approaching a common theme. Rather, it just looks like Bjorn and Holger having fun, creating a series of eight maps (no secret) that goes down smooth, all things considered.