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).

Phobos: Anomaly Reborn (PAR.WAD)

Chris Lutz has a more or less independent property in marshaling The Chaos Crew's Caverns of Darkness. His earliest obsession, though, was to reinvent the original Doom under the guidance of his own image. This started in 1998 with the release of Inferno and was followed by some work on replacements for The Shores of Hell and Knee Deep in the Dead. His passion project took a backseat when he joined CoD, though, and by the time he got back to the trilogy he was so displeased with his older works that he began anew. Thus we were fortunate enough to receive Phobos: Anomaly Reborn. This episode one replacement was released at the beginning of 2003 and imprinted on Doomworld's curators enough to find a spot in their coveted Top 100 WADs of All Time. Lutz identifies Boom/MBF as the target port and his language implies that it ought to work with either but it was also found to be compatible in a then-contemporary version of ZDoom. There are some caveats, though, and I'll get to those in a bit.

SubP:AR (PAR.WAD)

When I hunkered down to look into Phobos: Anomaly Reborn I learned one of the community's best-kept secrets. There are four other levels contained within PAR.WAD, occupying E2M5-E2M8. They constitute the stealth release of SubP:AR, a collection of outtakes from Christopher's Inferno period (1997-1999). The author originally intended to make Lutz-ified reimaginations of Knee Deep in the Dead and The Shores of Hell, too, but he joined up with The Chaos Crew and these levels fell by the wayside. While he eventually got around to Phobos (and, though incomplete, Deimos) it was with a few good years of authorial experience under his belt. I don't know whether these were necessarily designed for BooMBF but it was probably the last port that Chris used to test them. I'm reviewing them separately from P:AR in spite of being contained in the same PWAD because I don't want to bloat Reborn's review and I'd like to give these curiosities their time in the sun.

CH Retro Episode (RETROEPS.WAD)

Chris Hansen did a lot of work for Doom II and then ended up helping out his brother in arms, Paul Corfiatis, with making a megaWAD for the original. I don't know whether he was craving the creation of classically-themed maps prior to 2002: A Doom Odyssey but somewhere while hacking it out he was bitten by Phobos Fever. This project began life as a single level titled CH_RETRO in 2001 and after a lot of positive feedback it was expanded to a full Knee Deep in the Dead replacement as the similarly-titled CH Retro Episode. It was ultimately released after 2002ADO was finished but during the same year - 2002.

CH Retro (CH_RETRO.WAD)

CH RETRO

by Christian Hansen

To the uninitiated, it may look as though Chris was indulging his Ultimate tooth prior to his work on 2002: A Doom Odyssey. His painstakingly arranged back catalog tells a different story, however. At the very least, Hansen had built no less than four levels for Paul's pet project before even starting his Retro Episode. While the final product saw release in 2002, the same year as 2002ADO and similar critical darling Rip It, Tear It, Smash It, it originally started as a single level before being incorporated as RETROEPS's E1M6 as "Primary Base". There's a slight parallel to The Classic Episode but CH_RETRO's development was far less publicly measured. This initial offering is an E1M1 replacement for the original Doom.

Oblivion (OBLIV666.WAD)

Back in 2010, Stormwalker aka Vordakk released Phobos Massacre, an episode replacement for E1 of the original Doom. Then he did a lot of work in both Heretic and Doom II before coming back to this, making him the first of several 2015 authors to go back and take a second crack at something they felt disappointed with. So, here's Oblivion. Like its predecessor, it's an episode one replacement for the original Doom, but where PHOBMASS only worked in ZDoom, this was tested down to Boom compatible ports at the very least, with an optimistic outlook of limit-removing... but I can't guarantee anything.

Phobos Massacre (PHOBMASS.WAD)

Vordakk, also known as Stormwalker, bedazzled us with a brand new Heretic episode in 2011 (Call of the Apostate) and eventually belted out a sort of Doom II inspired megaWAD in 2014 with Flashback to Hell. His first big release, though, was Phobos Massacre, a Knee Deep in the Dead replacement for the original Doom to be played in ZDoom-derived ports. Phobos Massacre eventually got its own remastering in 2015 with Oblivion, but its progenitor is still lurking on /idgames waiting for any poor unfortunate soul looking for more E1-themed levels to play. The episode doesn't have any story but it has plenty of thematic parallels with the original so you can just frame it as you like it.

20 Years of Doom (20YDOOM.WAD)

The French Doom Community wanted to pay tribute to Doom on its 20th anniversary. What better way than a trip down memory lane? The plan: condense the original trilogy into one single episode by conflating some of the most prominent elements of every three levels, all working in Boom-compatible ports. Interested authors claimed slots and did their best, but don't expect a slavish reinterpretation of the original Doom. Sure, you're gonna get a few homages. When you're doing Doom tributes, it seems to be practically unavoidable, even in 2014. I think it works, though, and these maps are anything but reference-composed patchwork. 20 Years of Doom proves again the vibrancy of Doom's international theater as its long legacy drags on, grunting and moaning.

Esselmap I: Testing Facility (TESTFCIL.WAD)

ESSELMAP I:
TESTING FACILITY
by Sarah "Esselfortium" Mancuso

The mere existence of this single level for Doom II, circa 2006, must gnaw away at Esselfortium's cold, black heart. Testing Facility is her earliest released work, a fairly large level for limit-removing ports that draws a lot of its aesthetic from Knee Deep in the Dead. It's actually a pretty cool MAP01, loaded with intricate secrets, some of which I think (related to the plasma rifle) are a one-time affair. Anyway, while it's for Doom II, it's largely in the style of the Phobos episode as far as textures go, though not exactly in architecture or anything. It also doesn't have a story, not that you really care about the .TXT files that come with Doom PWADs... or do you?

Danne's E1 (DANNE1.WAD)

Daniel Jakobsson's forte is slaughter maps, if you hadn't already guessed with Combat Shock, Combat Shock 2, or his Slaughterfest entries. It comes as some surprise that he published a limit-removing Episode One replacement for Doom in 2013, though it's a surprise tempered with some bemusement, as he's outspoken about his dislike for the original Doom in general and Doom the Way id Did. Danne's E1 was a learning experience from a player who had moved far beyond the original Doom and, indeed, Doom II with the advent of mapsets like Speed of Doom and Sunder. Here it is, though, his token E1 replacement for those of you who can't get enough of Phobos.

900 Deep in the Dead (900DEEP.WAD)

900 Deep in the Dead is a takeoff from the popular 100 Lines project, the latter began by Adam Windsor. The concept - make a map with only 100 lines. The challenge is in creating something that both looks okay and is also entertaining. Doomworld Forum superstar Jay "Jayextee" Trent took the idea and ran with it for a full episode replacement for Doom's Knee Deep in the Dead. Trent tackles the constraints in what I'm assuming are staples of working within 100 lines, using abstract geometry, double-sided linedefs separated by height to reuse walls, and other bits of level geometry for monster closets.

Phobos (PHOBOS.WAD)

Roger Ritenour’s Phobos is a four-map minisode for Doom II that reuses the implicit story of the first four maps of the original's "Knee Deep in the Dead". The player arrives at the research facility on Phobos, fighting through the hanger, the nuclear plant, toxin refinery, and then Command and Control, where the demons undoubtedly struck first. However, rather than reinventing the wheel with another Episode One style mapset, Ritenour worked to make each location as realistic as possible. He does a pretty good job. Where Earth had some gorgeous surf and sand, and maybe a glass elevator, Phobos is filled to the brim with specialized textures and ingenious special effects that help to develop the character of each level.

The Phobos Directive (PHOBOS-G.PK3)

Rex Claussen released Phobos Revisited in 2004. Yet another E1 remake, it was praised for its fidelity to the source material. The 2004 Cacowards singled the episode out for its vanilla compatibility, which I find funny, because in 2011 Claussen and the rest of The Persecution Complex put their heads together and released The Phobos Directive, an E1-styled episode for GZDoom. It's not exactly a remastering of PR; while it's clear Claussen did a GL pass over his original maps, adding lots of eye candy, he's added vast new areas with heavy 3D geometry (usually secret annexes). Remodeling seems more like the word I want to use.

Dawn of the Dead (DODEAD.WAD)

Dawn of the Dead is an episode replacement for Doom's Knee Deep in the Dead. Well, almost an episode replacement. Jan Van der Veken never finished E1M5 (at least, for this episode), so it's more like 8 maps. The story takes place on Jupiter's moon, Europa, where simple lifeforms were discovered, leading to attempts to terraform the planet (I mean, that would probably kill all the native species, but whatever). The end goal was to colonize the moon, and at the "current" time, there's a burgeoning population complete with a contingent of space marines. Of course, they managed to discover relics from a past civilization that mastered teleportation technology (sploops!) and, later, some manuscripts containing vague warnings (double sploops!). And, now, the moon's colonies have (mostly) overrun by an unknown hostile force. Owing to your expertise, you're sent in to deal with the situation.

Spire Complex (SPIREC.WAD)

Spire Complex is a nine-map replacement for Doom II by Callum Guy Oliver, aka Doomworld forum superstar phobosdeimos1. The .TXT asserts that the port is designed to work with any that supports extended DeHackEd patches. In reality, it's compatible with any Boom-compatible port, with one (somewhat major) caveat, but I'll get to that. It doesn't have much of a story, but from the sole intermission text, one can gather that the Spire Complex was breached by two demonic portals which the marine has been sent to shut down. Structurally, this divides the episode in to two sections. In MAP01-06, the marine fights his way through the base to shut down the first portal, battling its guardian, a powerful arachnotron. In MAP07-09, he is sent back in order to shut down the remaining gate.

Return to Phobos (RETURN01.WAD)

If the original Doom has given us anything, it's the basis for a bajillion episode replacements. The perennial favorite, Knee Deep in the Dead, has inspired most of them, rivaled only by Thy Flesh Consumed, likely since that wasn't part of the initial release. Return to Phobos is an Episode One replacement circa '94 from Michael Kelsey. Kelsey was the author of what many consider to be Doom's first "serious" level, STONES. RETURN delivers on the promise of early forays with the editor to produce a nice selection of early but playable Doom levels with a mostly Phobos-like texture scheme.

Fava Beans (FAVA.WAD)

The thing about Fava Beans is that it's a pretty well-known Episode 1 replacement for the original Doom, but its notoriety is due almost entirely to the skill with which author Sean Birkel recreated the atmosphere and architecture of "Knee Deep in the Dead". In 1995, or thereabouts, it was a pretty big deal since his peers were making maps that looked pretty primitive in comparison. Nowadays, we can sit on a pile of Phobos recreations and call the set on its single most glaring fault. When you've stopped sucking at Doom, the fighting is boring as shit.

Double Impact (DBIMPACT.WAD)

A Ralphis and RottKing joint, Double Impact was released in 2011 for limit-removing ports as an E1 replacement. And, yeah, it does borrow some from Knee Deep in the Dead, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. Double Impact tells the story of a lowly mechanic who was busy fixing shit in the maintenance shop when Hell invaded the military complex where he resided. Sure, you're gonna kill all the beasties for slaughtering your buddies, but the real objective is to make it to the launch facility way on the other side of the base so that you can blow astro dust on the Hellspawn on your way out.