TNT: Revilution (TNTR.WAD)

In 2009, Whoo opened the doors for TNT2, what was to be a spiritual sequel to TNT: Evilution. What followed was one of the longest and most protracted and most importantly PUBLIC development cycles in the community. Somewhere along the way, Steve Muller aka "Kyka" took the reigns of development along with a few other forum regulars who really wanted to see TNT2 make it to completion. I distinctly recall playing a gorgeous TNT2 demo map from Xaser. His teaser generated a lot of buzz for the project, but certain folks including a late-returning Whoo looked at the direction that Kyka had taken TNT2 and were vocally...dissatisfied. Somewhere after all the name-calling and aspersions, when the project heads could speak a bit more civilly in public, there was a project split in 2014, founded upon some sort of a level draft where levels were split up like dividing property during a divorce. A bit more level-headed than the divorces I've heard talk of, really. This is where Revilution's story begins, as a TNT2 spinoff.

StarCove - A Tribute to Ty Halderman (STARCOVE.WAD)

STARCOVE
A TRIBUTE TO
TY HALDERMAN
by Michael Jan "valkiriforce" Krizik

Ty Halderman passed away in 2015. He remains an Essential Pillar of the Community for a variety of reasons, the most prominent in my mind functioning as the steward of the /idgames archive for nearly twenty years. The only reason he stopped was because his terminal illness dealt him such a blow that he could not even tell the Doom community why their regularly scheduled updates had ceased. It was no surprise to see authors gathering together in an attempt to pay tribute to the man, many of whom gathered under the banner of Christian Hansen's THT: Threnody (Ty Halderman Tribute) project. Classic megaWAD officiando valkiriforce had a slightly different idea, likely because Threnody was a Boom-compatible release and Krizik is more of a Chocolate kind of guy.

Absolute Dishonor (ABSOLDIS.WAD)

valkiriforce was one of 2011's biggest darlings. He churned out map after map of vanilla Doom II goodness but tapered off in 2012 toward an apparent last gasp in 2013, releasing what appeared to be a sort of rarities collection. 40oz made a huge splash in 2010 with UAC Ultra but took several sabbaticals from the community related to the development of Doom the Way id Did and the hotly anticipated UAC Ultra 2. You can only resist id's siren song for so long, though, and both authors are back in 2016. While each one had their own solo stuff they brought their heads together for Absolute Dishonor, an eight-map episode for vanilla Doom II.

Vispire (VISPIRE.WAD)

After an enormous outpouring of material in 2011, valkiriforce's enthusiasm seemed to taper off and apparently ended in 2013 with the release of PULSE. It was a sort of a rarities collection of rejects and stuff he had laying around from various efforts. They always come back, though, and while the majority of 2016's Vispire may be rooted in a collection of speedmapping sessions in 2013 the rest comes from a few sporadic bursts in 2015 and 2016. Altogether, it's a new 17-level megaWAD for D2, though I've gotta warn you if you're expecting something akin to Doom Core or Reverie. Vispire has a style all its own.

October (OCT11.WAD)

Here at Doomworld, we believe in the act of gifting. Authors release levels, and when I can get off my ass to do it, I give them a review! Some people prefer to give demos, so you can actually see someone else playing your map. And, well, some people go through the trouble to give Doomers maps on their birthday. October is a collection of six birthday maps for Doom II gifted to Doomworld Forum superstars in October 2011. Maybe, if you were generous / conceited enough, you might say that this is a birthday WAD to everyone born in October. Thanks, guys! This Halloween baby salutes you for your time and effort. Note that at least one of the levels makes no claim for vanilla compatibility, so use a limit-removing port for a full playthrough.

An Idgames Troll Walks Into a Bar... (ID_GAMER.WAD)

AN IDGAMES TROLL
WALKS INTO A BAR...
by Michael Jan "valkiriforce" Krizik

2013 was a quiet year for Doomworld Forum superstar valkiriforce. A few single maps made it to the archives, but nothing on the scale of 2011, Brandon D. Lade's "Year of the Valkyrie". An idgames Troll Walks Into a Bar... is the only solo release that didn't find its way into PULSE (that I know of). It's a MAP01 replacement for Doom II, with a curious note that suggests that Krizik misses the anonymous, thoughtless needling of /idgames trolls and released this typical valkiriforce map as a way to stir up the hornet's nest. And, hey, you're the troll! At least, you're the dude who walks into a bar at the beginning of the map which has a big ol' sign across the top that says "IDGAMES" and then proceeds to ice all the Hellspawn inside.

PULSE (PULSE.WAD)

To drive an already overwrought comparison to the ground, Doomworld Forum superstar Michael Jan Krizik released Eternally Yours in 2012, which was basically the equivalent of an album of new material plus some rarities. PULSE, assembled from essentially the rest of his unreleased material and (un)officially released in 2013, is the final scraping of the barrel, coming from myriad places. As usual, it's all for vanilla Doom II, and it's a pretty mixed bag containing a bunch of works from the beginning of his craft to the more polished stuff I've come to expect from valkiriforce, who's otherwise pretty consistent.

Unholy Realms (UR_FINAL.WAD)

I've bugged a lot of people about a lot of projects, but I think I've ridden Doomworld Forums superstar Brian "Snakes" Knox's ass more than most. Unholy Realms started up back in early 2010 and has been kicking around during the majority of Knox's mapping career, finally seeing release in 2013. It's a limit-removing megaWAD for Doom II that gets some more use out of the Community Chest 4 texture pack, now fairly well known, but still appreciated to give these works some flair beyond plain ol' vanilla textures. As far as story goes, Knox emulates his forbears with a quick blurb about sections of reality being pulled from Hell and merged in the vision of the Icon of Sin, with you setting out to end shit before it all goes to Hell.

Interception (INTERCEP.WAD)

Interception started around the height of vanilla megaWAD madness, back in 2011. Matt534Dog wanted to make a megaWAD, and there was enough enthusiasm knocking about that everyone not working on their top secret projects said "Hell yeah!" and started pouring in the maps. Then on release, the Doomworld MegaWAD Club played it, undergoing a sort of playtesting by fire, after which the PWAD underwent some significant changes. The super double ultimate final release happened sometime in 2013, but there are still a few game-breaking bugs to stamp out. Funny, unless you're playing it and run across them, trying to find out whether you just don't have the solution or whether the puzzle itself is inherently broken.

Eternally Yours (ETRNYOUR.WAD)

Eternally Yours is the third and final entry in Michael Jan Krizik's "Doom Core" trilogy. Unlike its forebears, it's not a megaWAD, instead weighing in at an eleven-map episode for vanilla Doom II. If Doom Core and Reverie were double albums, Eternally Yours would be something of a hybrid-rarities LP, featuring three early maps since tuned up to his current standards and two birthday presents for Doomworld forum superstars "Phobus" and "Deathevokation", the other six levels being brand-new offerings much in line with his existing material. Together, it's another delight for fans of valkiriforce's style, ostensibly a way for him to make his peace with the last of his remaining earlier material.

Marine's Folly (MARFOLY.WAD)

MARINE'S FOLLY
by Chris "Mr. Chris" Pisarczyk
Michael Jan "valkiriforce" Krizik

Marine's Folly is a joint effort by Doomworld forum superstars Mr. Chris and valkiriforce, a vanilla-compatible MAP14 replacement for Doom II created over the course of three days. The text file doesn't leave much story, simply leaving it at "A place you don't want to wander around without means of defending yourself." It's pretty succinct, and indeed, you don't want to be exploring without packing heat, so it's a good thing they throw you a shotgun near the start.

Reverie (REVERIE.WAD)

Reverie is the other vanilla-compatible megaWAD Doomworld forum superstar valkiriforce released in 2011. It's also the one that won a Cacoward (as well as the coveted Brandon D. Lade award, courtesy of Doomworld forum superstar Gez). Why Reverie and not Doom Core? Well, this is basically Doom Core 2.0, by which I mean the same principles and influences are present, tempered by experience gained up to and including Reverie. There's more coherence, more polish, and just higher quality all around. The story follows the marine from Doom, who realizes that the events of the past few games never happened – they were all a dream, produced by his coma-fueled imagination. He must therefore fight his way through another horde of demons, symbolically battling his illness. If victorious, he will return to reality.

Doom 2 Unleashed (PC_CP.WAD)

Paul Corfiatis is a veteran Doom mapper, the author of ancient WADs like The Twilight Zone. Upon releasing his Whispers of Satan megaWAD with best Doom buddy Kristian Aro, he opted to start a community project, which debuted in 2011 as Doom 2 Unleashed. It's a forty map megaWAD whose last eight levels constitute their own episode, titled "No Hope for Peace". The scope of the project was restricted to maps that functioned in any limit-removing port and used only stock Doom II textures. I'm not entirely sure how the bonus episode is handled outside of ports that support maps in excess of 32, let alone custom episode definitions, but in ZDoom NHFP shows up as a selectable episode, backed by the soundtrack from Inferno.

Doom Core (DCV.WAD)

Michael Jan Krizik (aka Doomworld forum superstar valkiriforce) made a bunch of Boom maps during 2010. He polished the results, stripped them down to vanilla, mixed in some rejects from other projects, and combined them into a megaWAD called Doom Core. Krizik makes no effort to hide his influences; he's a child of '95-'96 mapping sensibilities, drawing from such authors as Chris Klie and Jim Flynn. He claims it's done in the Doom II mapping style, and while that may be true in terms of gameplay, aesthetically it's in a bit of a different boat. It's also heartening that, while people were playtesting Doom Core, he continued to push out quality work. Reverie, a WAD explicitly patterned after '96-era community WADs, enjoyed a 2011 release as well. In this way, he also appears to channel that unrestrained enthusiasm present in '96-'97 mappers.