Lab (LAB.WAD)

LAB

by Malcolm Sailor

DS-61-3
ALAPOLGY	FROMDREM	LAB
BOOM	WASTEME	SINFERNO

DS-61-3 is a 1996 update to a similarly-titled collection that could have been released in 1995, judging by the timestamp on FROMDREM. It contained six individual PWADs, all of which occupy the MAP01 slot. The imaginatively-titled LAB is one such delight. Of all the files in the package it's the only one with a framing story. Malcolm manages to slam both schools of thought concerning Doom's antagonists into one blurb. He describing the facility in question as belonging to aliens and then goes on to assert that while you ought to "blow it to hell", it's actually "already there".

From a Dream (FROMDREM.WAD)

FROM A DREAM

by Malcolm Sailor

DS-61-3
ALAPOLGY	FROMDREM	LAB
BOOM	WASTEME	SINFERNO

MS was a busy bee since his release of 3PACK_1 which collected his three most recently completed maps as individual files, one of them being an update. The follow-up was DS-61-2, a bundle of six PWADs totaling seven levels whose most recent incarnation is DS-61-3, an update made after the release of Quick is Good. The first few maps I played from this .ZIP (ALAPOLGY) were very short affairs and FROMDREM is no exception. It doesn't really have a strong hook or gimmick made manifest in the level but you may find it interesting that the nature of its design came to the author in a dream.

All Apologies (ALAPOLGY.WAD)

DS-61-3
ALAPOLGY	FROMDREM	LAB
BOOM	WASTEME	SINFERNO

All Apologies is one of six very short PWADs uploaded to the archives by Malcolm Sailor as part of DS-61-2.ZIP. He later updated most of the contained items and re-released them in July of 1996 as DS-61-3. Both packages were named after Darth Vader's wingmen during the climactic Battle of Yavin. I probably don't need to tell you that it's a Star Wars thing, but there you go. ALAPOLGY differs from the rest of its brood; it actually contains two levels, occupying the MAP01 and MAP02 slots, but it's otherwise in keeping with the traits evidenced in Malcolm's most original subsequent creation, TEKRKBRN.

Three Kick Ass WADs (3PACK_1.ZIP)

THREE KICK ASS WADS
by Malcolm Sailor

Rule the World!

Omelet Face

TEKRKBRN

The boy who would go on to create the CHORD series to much critical acclaim spent a long time cranking out short single levels, many of which were released as part of collections bundled inside .ZIPs. 3PACK_1 was the first; uploaded in 1995, it contains three such offerings. Rule the World! (RULER) was published a few weeks before and found its way into this compilation because Malcolm wanted to update it. The others, Omelet Face and TEKRKBRN, are unique to the archive. Each one has more to offer than Sailor's debut (DARKER), though its emphasis of the contrast between light and dark would go on to be an important feature of his better-known works.

TEKRKBRN (TEKRKBRN.WAD)

TEKRKBRN

by Malcolm Sailor

THREE KICK ASS WADS (3PACK_1.ZIP)
Rule the World!	Omelet Face	TEKRKBRN

While his CHORD series would go on to both fame and notoriety for its survivalist-style combat and painstaking visuals, Malcolm Sailor started out making original levels of strung-together 64 wide corridors and knockoffs that combined his favorite ideas from Doom II levels. His third release was a packaged triplet of maps titled Three Kick Ass WADs (3PACK_1) which contained a previous publication, RULER, as well as OMELET and TEKRKBRN. The last, a MAP01 replacement for id's skeleton-studded sequel, derives its name from the predominant texture scheme. I think it means tech, rock, and brown, but that's a semi-educated guess on my part.

Omelet Face (OMELET.WAD)

OMELET FACE
by Malcolm Sailor

THREE KICK ASS WADS (3PACK_1.ZIP)
Rule the World!	Omelet Face	TEKRKBRN

3PACK_1 was released in 1995 some three months after MS's DARKER. The latter was a dark and dreary jumble of corridors. The former actually contained three levels, all occupying the MAP01 slot, that are way different than the author's debut. Two of them borrow quite heavily from the original Doom II. I'm not sure about TEKRKBRN yet but I'll find out one way or another. RULER snagged from both "Gotcha!" and mostly "Nirvana". Malcolm cheekily titled this one Omelet Face because he assumed that it would cook your countenance. He also claims it to the best Hell map he's seen other than id's but then goes on to damn Doom II's third episode in the same breath. Ah, to be twelve again.

Rule the World! (RULER.WAD)

RULE THE WORLD!
by Malcolm Sailor

THREE KICK ASS WADS (3PACK_1.ZIP)
Rule the World!	Omelet Face	TEKRKBRN

After beginning his career with the truly titled Darker mid-1995, Malcolm published Rule the World! later that year in September and then quickly re-released it after a few quick bugfixes as part of a package alongside Omelet Face and TEKRKBRN. I will be reviewing 3_PACK1 aka Three Kick Ass WADs as a whole package but first I'll be covering each of the included levels. RULER is a MAP01 replacement for Doom II and Sailor claimed it to be one of the better ones that he had seen. It's certainly more visually interesting than Darker, whose light levels prevented you from actually witnessing the map itself.

Darker (DARKER.WAD)

DARKER

by Malcolm Sailor

MS went on to dizzying heights toward the end of his career with the CHORD series, the later levels arguably setting the stage for the marriage of high skill ceiling and beautiful visuals / architecture that we see from authors like Ribbiks today. As with Matt Tropiano, Sailor was but a young lad at the onset of his career. DARKER - his first level and a MAP01 replacement - was released at the tender age of 12 in the year 1995. He would go on to downplay it alongside the rest of his non-CHORD back catalog, much like Mista_T and Dimensions of Time or Skillsaw and Sector 666. And, well, in this particular case it's hard to disagree.