Codename HYENA: Killer Machine (HYENA.WAD)

Kristian Käll went on to major acclaim for his Legacy PWADs - Phobia, Ni'mRoD: IXNAY on the HOMBRE, and Phobia: The Age - and more recently his Heretic and Hexen projects, Curse of D'sparil and Curse of the Lost Gods. The first two happened during his tenure as a member of Unholy Software and their earliest release was a total conversion for the original Doom, published in 1998. Codename HYENA: Killer Machine gets mentioned every now and then but there's a hint of uncertainty behind the namedrops. It replaces the first three episodes of the original Doom - the last a decidedly Deathmatch dalliance - and has a fair bit of DeHackEd work in order to tweak the values of its core gameplay for a fairly different experience.

Paranoia (PARANOIA.WAD)

So far, I've played two of Rex Claussen's 2000 Doom II "TCs". The first, A Hex On You, mined the resources of Hexen II. The following release, Phoenix Rising, pulled from the world of Quake II - among other things. This time, he's set his sights on the Half-Life universe. Paranoia has a few superficial commonalities with PHOENIX; there are five maps, for one, also spanning MAP02 to MAP06. However, where Phoenix Rising only took the textures of Quake II, Paranoia makes a thorough bid for Total Conversion by also using weapon and enemy sprites pulled from the game's models and sort-of-kind-of-finding matches in Doom II's monsters. The result is... interesting.

Shadow of the Wool Ball (SHADOWO*.WAD)

Designing a full-fledged Doom clone with all new resources... Well, that's hard. Making a Wolf3D-style game, though, is a different story. It still wouldn't be easy but the simpler level design sets the bar much lower and not having to make full rotations for monster sprites (since they only have to be focused on you) ought to be a boon for working sprite artists. 2016's Shadow of the Wool Ball is a passion project from MSPaintR0cks featuring retro Wolfenstein action rendered in a clean, cartoony art style. A ZDoom release, it's three episodes of six levels for a grand total of eighteen that's meant to run with the Doom II IWAD but can run just fine in the original trilogy excepting a surprise guest appearance by the end text from Doom's Inferno.

Gene-Tech: Before the Storm (NJGTB4TS.PK3)

GENE-TECH
BEFORE THE STORM
by Nigel "Enjay" Rowand

Enjay was there at the start of Doom's community in 1994 and he's been consistent in pushing the old, creaking game into new directions with his work in the ZDoom engine. Gene-Tech is his latest release, and one that comes after a bit of an authorial hiatus. It's a single map for any Doom IWAD to be played in GZDoom, but it isn't short by any stretch of the imagination. The story is pretty simple; Gene-Tech is a shady corporation on Mars (DUN DUN DUNNNNN) that has been making some stunning advances in genetics and cybernetics, but word has it that the source of their good fortune isn't human. The rules on first contact scenarios are quite clear on the situation and as such you're sent to investigate and end any security threats to the human race.

Mayhem Mansion (MAYHEMM.WAD)

MAYHEM MANSION
by "Darsycho" aka "Jack101"

Mayhem Mansion, released in 2013, is the latest outpouring of madness from Doomworld Forum superstar Darsycho (aka Jack101). It's heavily inspired by a bizarre FPS released in 1999, titled Exploding Lips. Jack takes things in a bit of a different direction, ditching the -unusual- intro of the original, which has you crawl upward through some concrete tunnels, only to arise from the earth and climb out of a coffin. Instead, he's focused on the aspects that endeared the game to him. Like, well, having explosives spit at you by giant, disembodied lips. The real question is, are you ready for Mayhem Mansion?

Encrypter (ENCRYPT*.WAD)

Encrypter is something of an oddity, a short total conversion for Heretic released in 2013 by Doomworld Forum superstar Fenriswolf, to be played in ZDoom. It truly is a total conversion, with a bunch of new assets, though the quality of the new textures and sprites does not necessarily compare to the game it is building off of...at all. But that's okay, because they're all pretty much from the same fountain, combining to give Encrypter its own distinct aesthetic. Encrypter isn't really an action game like Heretic; there's action, to be sure, but the actual feel is something of a little role-playing module in first-person shooters' clothing.

Pirate Doom (PIRATES!.WAD)

Pirate Doom started back in mid-2012, and what a long way we've come, baby. "D" Arch got the ball rolling with some humorous sprite edits and a few levels and developed the thing into a full-blown GZDoom TC, which saw its major final touches in 2013. Every monster you know from Doom II has undergone some fantastic work to fit them into the Pirate pantheon, from the lowly zombiman to the strapping Cyberdemon, and all the action plays across a wonderfully varied 18 or so levels, giving you plenty of time to get intimate with the changes as you swash and buckle your way through a brand new adventure.

Soulcrusher (SCMAIN.ZIP)

Soulcrusher is basically a brand new game for the GZDoom engine by Przemek "Alter-zero" Zimny, aka Afterworldruler. Well, it has some resources cribbed from a few other things, most notably Freedoom, but the only real traces of Doom you'll find are in some of the now familiar sound effects. Soulcrusher's initial scope was larger, numbering at more than the nine maps that form the entirety of its gameplay (at least four), plus plenty of alternate exits that would change the way later levels played out, but Zimny lost his graphic artist, one Pawel "NMN" Zarczyinski. Without a replacement, he completed the project for release rather than have it languish in obscurity, which I'm grateful for. The story:

Batman Doom (BATMAN.WAD)

You never forget your first superhero. Some twenty years ago, my big two faves were the X-Men cartoon and Batman: The Animated Series. I only have one of those on DVD today; you can probably guess which one. It's TAS, by the way, because B:TAS is awesome, and even though I am a much bigger Spider-Man fan, when I go DC, it's Batman all the way. Batman Doom, released in 1999, is a fun throwback to that 90s Batman fever. It pulls a lot more from the comics than either TAS or the movies, but you can see where they intrude. It's also designed for DOS (not vanilla!) Doom II, doing an unprecedented amount of mod work with DeHackEd. Batman Doom comes from the ACE Team - Andres, Carlos, and Edmundo Bordeau. I think this is where they started their work; nowadays, they're releasing actual games for money, most recently Steam favorite Rock of Ages.

HACX: Twitch'n Kill (HACX.WAD)

HACX was never destined for greatness. A commercial TC published for Doom II in 1997 and featuring some of the better-known authors of Doom's golden age ('96-'97) (notably superstars Adelusion and Iikka Kernanen), it came out subsequent to the release of the new breed of FPS games, namely Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. It's odd, because HACX feels like a natural bridge between the Doom and BUILD engines. It has themed maps, destroyable objects, and a penchant for goofiness that lies outside the normal bounds of Doom. Unfortunately, it never fulfilled the proposed design documents, topping out at twenty-one out of thirty-two levels replaced, and that's looking at it from a purely numerical standpoint.

Star Wars: Chibi Rebellion (CR_59.7Z)

Apparently this little work began as LilWhiteMouse's first ZDoom project. Considering the version of Chosen I reviewed is circa 2003, that makes Chibi Rebellion's foundation quite old indeed. It saw several phases of development, with the most recent leading to a 5.0 idgames release. And yet, it moves... This article covers the 5.9 release of Star Wars: Chibi Rebellion. Yeah, some stuff's been added since. CR was released to little fanfare, which is a shame. This is a quality game on the level of some of Doom's most ambitious total conversions. Though it may lack the polish of works like Action Doom II, it's worth a play. It'll be a long one, and my only hope is that LWM continues to preen this product.

Return of the Triad (ROTT_TC_FULL.PK3)

Johns Romero and Carmack played Rise of the Triad into the grave like two dudes on the same side of an air hockey table. People still love it, though. Sure, it's limited to 90 degree walls, but it's so delightfully arcade with the coins and jump pads and bodies exploding into ludicrous gibs... I'm sure some people wondered what RoTT would have looked like using Doom's engine. Well, through the miracle of science, Leon "El Zee" Zawada and Simon "5hfifty" Rance arranged such a thing! Actually, let's not kid ourselves. Return of the Triad isn't the Doom engine circa '93; it's the ZDoom engine as of '11. But WOW does it look so good. The story is pretty simple; H.U.N.T. discovers a Triad base (Episode One) that is merely an outpost of a much revived organization, dealt with in Episode Two.

Aliens: Colonial Marines TC (ALIENSCM.PK3)

When I was a kid, I had several recurring nightmares. One of these had me walking to my room upstairs and seeing an Alien through the crack between the door and the frame. And even though I knew there was an Alien in the room, I couldn't stop myself from going in. In a way, Aliens: Colonial Marines (and the Justin Fisher TC before it) is a cathartic experience. The difference between the game and the dream is that, while I know There Be Aliens Here, I have just the slightest bit more control over my situation. Colonial Marines as a whole is much more lethal than the '94 relic, though it has some new toys and, as it's in GZDoom, a plethora of features including dynamic lighting, 3D floors, and other things to help set up its frightening atmosphere. The architecture is great, with a fairly realistic layout that only adds to the atmosphere, especially in the third area, the "Atmosphere Processor", and other places like those hallways to the east in the first area look like they were ripped right out of the movie.

Chosen (CH133.WAD)

When people think "Total Conversion" in the context of Doom, they're usually thinking of what's technically a partial conversion. The Aliens TC, for all its vaunted glory, still uses a lot of Doom assets (even if they're recolored or mash-ups). Chosen (v 1.33 for ZDoom) uses virtually none of Doom II's textures or sprites. LilWhiteMouse has included a glut of gorgeous Egyptian wall textures and flats that highlight the WAD's separation with the game typically played with the ZDoom engine. All sprites have been replaced with pre-rendered 3D objects, and few if any monster replacements exhibit behavior indicative of their original placeholders.

Army of Darkness Doom (AODDOOM1.WAD and AODDOOM2.WAD)

Steve Conway wanted to make a total conversion based on the now cult classic, Army of Darkness, then a recent release. He touched base with Stefan Maes, the man behind Excalibur. The two welded together a crew of individuals, among them Doomworld's own "Linguica" (Andrew Stine). Army of Darkness Doom comes in two flavors, Doom and Doom II. Qualitatively, there is no difference between the two. They have the same levels and the same arrangements. The actual differences lie mainly in the ways both are packaged to deal with the episode formats.

Doom Must Fall (DMF.WAD)

DOOM MUST FALL
by Mackey "Avatar" McCandlish

Doom Must Fall is a TC for use with Ultimate Doom, created by Mackey "Avatar" McCandlish. It replaces all enemies and weapons with some actual gameplay changes. It's based off of the game, One Must Fall: 2097, a vs. fighting game where the combatants control robots via a physical and mental link. The models were all primitive 3D renders, and looking at Rich "Weeds" Nagel's fansite, all of the monster sprite replacements are derived from the models found therein.