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2countrv - Jonathan Dowland
Doom 2 - Single Player - Boom Compatible - 12.42 KB
Reviewed by: Csonicgo
This is a 2-bit ripple counter, built using WadC. That's it. It's compatible with any port that can run Boom maps fairly competently, so I suppose that's anything these days. This is more of a proof-of-concept wad. Jon hopes that other maps can use this for some interactive questing, maybe for some crude scripting bits. So, all mappers check this out, it's worth a look.
As for everyone else, there's a nice, nice surprise if you overflow the counter. I don't want to spoil it, so everyone download this and try it! Enjoy the fun! I'm totally not saying this under threat of being gang-punched to death by bony fists! Honest!
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Doom: Damnation - Ofisil
Ultimate Doom - Single Player - Limit Removing - 1.64 MB -
Reviewed by: bzzrak
Doom: Damnation. A 3-episode Ultimate Doom megaWAD. Made for vanilla.
Warning: this review is quite long. tl;dr at the end if you're impatient!
A guy named Ofisil decided a few years ago to remake the Ultimate Doom (stock textures only, of course). However, as it tends to happen with such ambitious projects, he ran out of steam and couldn't complete E4. So he uploaded what he had, 27 levels. And apparently, he made an entirely new soundtrack as well! This looks promising!
I played through this with Crispy Doom 3.5 (I wanted Chocolate, but 640x400 is necessary for acceptable screenshots), on Hurt Me Plenty difficulty, continuous play, but without saves.
Well, obviously I can't elaborate much on every single level, so here are short summaries:
E1: The levels here are techbases, but with occasional Hellish details, like an Icon of Sin marble panel. I completed the episode in a single sitting and it took me around 1 hour and 20 minutes. I didn't regret it.
M1: UAC Base -- nice, short opener. Feels like it came straight out of E1.
M2: Nuclear Plant -- interesting, creepy, challenging. This feels like an early PWAD, like the UAC_DEAD we all love.
M3: Prison Area -- a more "rocky" level. There are some natural areas here, as well as a super-boring and repetitive crew section with lots of dark, identical rooms. Hint: the marble one is a death pit. Maybe the prisoners are executed there? And what's a prison of this size doing on Phobos anyway? The music here is an AWESOME remake of "Dark Halls"; words can't describe how great it is.
M9: Phobos Sewers -- didn't play. And even if I did, I wouldn't describe it to you. It's a secret level dammit, find for yourself!
M4: Crimson Mines -- goes even further with the "rockiness". This is a mining complex. The caves look great.
M5: Powerhouse -- centered around a huge reactor or something. An interesting level with a weird, but small outdoor area.
M6: Warpgate Research Facility -- cool level. Maybe a bit too brown, but still fun. Also the first appearance of the Cacodemon! The teleporting section was confusing, but not annoying.
M7: The Core -- big level, with some cool areas. The debut of the Baron of Hell. The monster count starts to increase (182!), but it shouldn't be something you can't manage.
M8: The Guardians -- a reimagining of Phobos Anomaly. First you see the two Barons, say "ahahaha this is gonna be easy", but then 50 monsters warp in to make your mission harder. Still, with all the soulspheres, this isn't much of a challenge even for those who suck at Doom, like me. By the way, 100% kills is achievable if you save the invulnerability for the finale.
E2: Hellish bases. As with E1, Hell influences things here more than in the original episode it replaces. The difficulty starts becoming more of a problem; Cyberdemons show up already in the middle of the episode, but still nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. Besides, that's what difficulty levels are for! This episode is the best that Doom: Damnation has to offer, so if you have to play one of the episodes, make it E2. I have completed this episode in one sitting as well; took me 1 hour, 20 minutes, just like with E1.
M1: Deimos Satellite -- also an OK opener. A rather dark and (very) sparsely populated level that still manages to hold your attention for a good 8 minutes. Watch that lava pit, you might fall in! Has some strange details, though.
M2: Sector 0 -- where's the crate maze? A more substantial level. Starts out as a techbase, with the color blue being the most dominant. There is a really huge ambush at one point, be careful. After the "bars" section things become hellish and... boring. There is a maze of raising/lowering red platforms; just IDSPISPOPD through that one and save your nerves for something else.
M3: Warehouse -- ahh. Here it is! Begins in a stone/brick ambient, then becomes a (small-ish) crate maze, ending with marble all over the place. As I've said before, there are some homages to "Halls of the Damned" and I think even "House of Pain". Lots of Barons and Cacodemons in this place, but luckily you're given a Plasma Rifle, a Rocket Launcher and even a BFG if you're attentive enough, which I wasn't.
M4: Deimos Base -- big level, actually scared me. Remember the times when people were scared of Doom? I don't, but now I know how it feels. The cross between the techbase and hell themes feels the most successful on this level. There are a couple occasions when Ofisil plays around with two different levels of architecture, which is interesting. As I said, the level has some parts that felt creepy to me. An area which you can see through some narrow windows with a lot of monsters fighting. The room behind the blue door. The marble gargoyle that will probably kill you on your first playthrough. The music contributes to the suspenseful mood of the level. This level rocks. This is a genuine masterpiece.
M5: The Temple -- a hub-based level. You start close to a door that requires all three keys and you have to find them... I mean, you don't have to, but you wanna save the world and get out of Deimos, right? From the start area you will get to a big room with a Baron, lots of Lost Souls and some Imps that guard three teleports to each area with a key. One is a techbase-ish maze of hallways, another is a big, big hellish cave with yet another bunch of Lost Souls and Cacodemons, the last area is a... huge-ass arena where you face... a Cacodemon and 4 Pinkies. C -- Challenging! OK, so you got the keys, now you're back at the door (technically 3 of them, but it's really one), you open it, face a lot of guys and exit to E2M6. Thanks to Lost Souls not being cool enough to count as monsters, the monster count on this level is deceptively low. Stay sharp, marine!
M9: Chaos Fissure -- see E1M9
M6: Volcano -- a level that thinks that it's much harder than it really is. MANY Soulspheres, all weapons and lots of ammo against 78 monsters + numerous lost souls. Not hard at all. A cave theme here. You basically have to fight your way through the caves, then you go out to the... volcano, I guess, where a Cyberdemon will warp in. After killing the cyber with your cells/rockets (which is trivial even for me in this setup), you proceed to the next level. There is a big group of Pinkies contained behind some sort of skin "bars" which is meant to be unleashed when you pick up one of the keys, but... you can just kill off the Pinkies before taking the key, and they can't exit the "cage", so they're absolutely helpless. Not cool. However, this level is a nice breather before...
M7: The Legion -- a slaughtermap that I actually liked! I never thought I could enjoy a slaughtermap! What other miracles does Ofisil have in stock for us, I wonder? This is a big spacious level, mainly coated in the colors red and gray. It starts out completely empty. You will wander around, gathering supplies, understanding that something big is about to happen... and you will be right. At some point you'll unleash a countless wave of Hellspawn, which will teleport all around the level as soon as you see them. The enemies were really plentiful, but ammo and health wasn't lacking (especially if you find a secret Soulsphere, as I did) and the level was a pleasure to play through. A cool touch was a Cyberdemon hidden behind a FIREBLU wall that fires rockets at you. One of the best levels in the megaWAD. You're given another Soulsphere in the room with the portal to the last bastion of Deimos, use it wisely.
M8: Hellgate -- suddenly... a Dead Simple clone? WTH?
E3: here the levels start sucking hard. I recommend you to play only until E3M3 or M5, because it gets BAD after that. Around the middle of the episode, the texturing starts becoming insane, in a very, very bad way. This episode took me three days to complete, and I even skipped two levels because they were 2hard4me even on HNTR. Oh well, they sucked anyway :]
M1: Shores of Hell -- despite what I've said of E3 as a whole, the beginning of your journey through Hell is quite decently made. You start off in a small room with computers around you and a door. When you open the door, you will see that you're on the edge of a big canyon with rocky platforms around. Eventually you will raise a bridge and teleport to a marble fortress inside of which there is a wood+metal area with many crushers and Barons to make your task harder. After you turn the first against the second, you enter a huge room that looks like a cathedral, enemies warp in, you kill them and proceed to M2. Also a good opener. The music is cool as well.
M2: Unholy Valley -- this level vexed me a lot. A big open level, kinda similar to the original E3M2: Slough of Despair, but without the fancy automap gimmick and with red bricks added to the colour scheme. Many, many Lost Souls here. Be sure to find a safe spot to snipe them off, or you just won't survive the level. Also, be VERY CAREFUL at the end of the level; a switch is supposed to raise out of the floor, but if you move too fast, you'll skip over it and unexpectedly melt in the lava. That's a shame, because the level is rather cool.
M3: Pandeimos -- a dark, suspenseful level. Reminds me of E4M7: And Hell Followed of the original Doom, because of frequent use of wood and the layout. Not particularly hard, but there's a part of the level where the everything is pitch black, you're in a pool of toxic blood and you have to follow the trail of the candles to progress. And there's some Pinkies and Cacodemons to keep you company. In the end there's a big wave of monsters, but that shouldn't be too hard. The music was cool. It felt very zen in the beginning, but got creepy as hell by the end.
M4: Deathlight -- I couldn't complete this level, to be honest. Huge, huge, bland, symmetric open area with two Cyberdemons, some Cacodemons, a lot of Barons on a high ledge, and swarms of Pinkies periodically released at you. There's a small closed area with all the keys and doors made of marble, wood and crushers. Two of the key doors are partially open and have nothing behind them except for another key. Damn slaughtermaps.
M5: The Eternal Citadel -- a rather cool level. A hellish citadel made primarily of red bricks. The monster density is high here (i.e. you'll fight big groups of hellspawn); getting through is hard, but manageable. The fortress is also pretty nonlinear, with many hidden passages leading to useful things you might need. Also, you'll find the level a lot harder if you don't have some semblance of a strategy. Hint: save that invulnerability sphere!
M6 -- imagine Mt. Erebus. Now double the monster count. Now throw in Cyberdemons, Barons and Spider Masterminds all over the place. I'm not reviewing this, sorry. 214 monsters. Play at your own risk.
M9: Pit of Nightmares -- see E2M9
M7: Event Horizon -- dear god, what I have done to be punished with this? A level that takes the retarded texturing to the EXTREME. Door textures? Crates? TEKWALL? In a hell level? Mmm yes. There isn't much ammo; find the chainsaw and berserk ASAP. The map isn't hard compared to some of the previous levels. Some of the ideas are interesting, like a room where you get teleported right on the center of a lowering crusher, and then monsters start pouring out of everywhere. You become forced to form an alliance with the crusher against the Cacodemons, Imps, Lost Souls, and, after those, Barons of Hell. Also, the long FIREBLU hallway was nice to look at, and the way you obtain the chaingun was an awesome concept. A weird level; play only if you really want to.
M8: The First Portal -- just a big arena made of marble. You enter the level and find yourself surrounded by Cacodemons. As soon as you fire, lots of monsters teleport into the arena, including at least four Spider Masterminds. At this point you can just relax, circlestrafe around and let the magic of mass infighting do its thing. Remember, marine, Masterminds can infight with each other as well! The spiders are on a platform slightly raised from the rest of the arena, so they tend to get stuck on the small height difference, where they become easy prey for the Barons of Hell.
What can I say about this mapset, overall? (i.e. tl;dr?)
1. It feels like the IWAD very much. I think, even more than DTWID! There are lots of very unusual gameplay ideas, which is something that makes the good ol' IWADs stand the test of time.
2. The soundtrack is top-notch. Some of the tracks are remixes of tracks from Ultimate Doom's OST, or very much resemble them. According to the text file, you can use it for your own purposes.
3. The levels feel extremely 1994-ish, but in a good way. Mostly.
4. However, the texturing and alignment suck; even '94 levels did it better. This is by far my biggest complaint about the WAD. Just press "A" in Doom Builder sometimes, damn it!!! It's not that hard, but makes your levels look much more professional! Yes, I'm pissed off by this. Also, some of the texture placement is so bad and totally nonsensical that even Sandy Petersen would throw these levels out of the damn window!!! Argh! Ofisil, why?!
5. The door tracks are not always lower unpegged, for god's sake! Unacceptable in 2016!
6. The difficulty is on par with the IWAD in the first half of the megaWAD (E1 + half of E2), but gets quite tough in the second half. Some of the E3 levels are full-on slaughter maps, so I skipped them :]
7. The detailing is better than in the Ultimate Doom. A bit bland sometimes, but hey, this is for vanilla!
8. The levels often continue "on top" of each other. You know, the end of one level is the same as the beginning of the next one.
9. You will often see homages to original id levels throughout the mapset. You will see the Imps + Chaingun building from the original E1M4 on E1M7, the wooden maze of the original E2M6 shows up on E2M3... see if you can find them all.
10. The author has provided level names, music track names and par times, but didn't bother with putting it into a DeHackEd file, instead keeping them in an included text file. A small DEH patch wouldn't have hurt, you know...
11. The "Barons + Cyberdemon" cliche a-la MAP08: Tricks 'n' Traps is really, really overused. Yet another gimmick that appears in MAP08, monsters teleporting behind you as soon as they see you is something that you will encounter a lot, too. The Lost Souls are overused as well, as a way of increasing difficulty without frightening the player by the maps' monster counts. Clever, but cheap!
As a conclusion, am I waiting for an Ofisil-made E4 remake? Yes. If you're reading this, Ofisil, I urge you to finish that megawad you started no matter what. This is the kind of things that gets Cacowards. Doom: Damnation is awesome.
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My First Wad - Jayfeather
Doom 2 - Single Player - ZDoom Compatible - 66.05 KB -
Reviewed by: bzzrak
Hey, some newbie's first WAD! Let's review it and tell him what a goddamn dumbass he is and how much his maps SUCK! Hehehehe... Well, no. This is cool.
Many mappers decided to participate in the Vinesauce mapping contest, but some of them have never mapped before. One of those fellas is named Jayfeather, and he released his entry to the public. Its name tells you everything: "My First WAD". The WAD comprises three maps made for ZDoom-compatible ports, and it does use some of the port features.
I played through this mapset in ZDoom 2.8.1 on HMP difficulty and it took me about 30 minutes.
MAP01: "the very first thing I've ever made in Doom Builder". It shows. Here we are in some sort of techbase. Huge and/or bland rooms. A single ceiling flat across the entire level. To make it even worse, that one flat is DB2's default one, CEIL1_1. 32 or 64 thick doors, but at least the tracks are lower unpegged. Secrets being simple item closets and easily visible on the automap. Floor textures used as wall ones.
Despite not being technically ideal, the gameplay is fun. That one room with Chaingunners and Mancubuses killed me a few times, but it was rather fun and easy, especially because those secrets were rather poorly hidden... Hey author, ever heard of the "Secret" linedef flag? This reminds me of my own first level, heh. This is bearable. It took me eight minutes.
MAP02: "basic premise is shamelessly copied from Map08". It shows, as well. You start in a "hub" area with a lot of doors around you. The theme here is mostly stone and bricks, and thankfully the author sticks to that theme throughout the entire level. There are a lot of huge and completely bland stairways and corridors. The author does throw in a few traps and monster closets, but the automap helps you predict those. This one generally looks a lot nicer compared to MAP01; it has that plain, but enjoyable 1994 spirit and aesthetic, and that's a compliment. One part that sucked was a huge maze with single (completely harmless!) Pinkies, while the player is given a SSG. That was just boring. IDSPISPOPD!
The finale is a completely harmless Spider Mastermind fight. You have a lot of plasma ammo on this level, so I literally didn't move at all and shot the spider until she died. B-o-r-i-n-g! After that, a door opens (ooooh scripting!), you get a key, and face the "surprise" behind the yellow door. Next stop, MAP03! This map is actually cool, I enjoyed the 11 minutes I spent here.
MAP03: "made almost entirely while intoxicated, and plays around with outdoors areas". O-kaaaaay... "Intoxicated" means "sick" or "high"? The theme here is outdoor/stone/bricks, then it goes into a small techbase part, then the BOSS FIGHT, and then you're done. Just like in the previous two maps, there are three keyed doors, and you start the level fairly close to all three. This level is more simplistic than MAP02 and even MAP01, but it's fun, and that's what matters! It's all really bland, but I've already said that, like, 25 times in this review. The PE + 2 Mancubus area with the lava looked kind of cute. So basically you fight monsters, get a few keys, everything is made of stone and bricks and things like that, then you get to the red door... and then WHAM! Techbase! A trident-shaped corridor, but all three doors lead to an arena that is just too big for the monsters inside of it. After you clean that, you face an Arch-Vile, but... you know... you have a load of plasma, so it isn't a threat at all. You take the yellow key from the AV room and head for the yellow door, behind which is a teleporter that leads to the aforementioned BOSS FIGHT, which is actually just a single Cyberdemon with lots of health and ammo lying around. So you blast his ass with your plasma gun, a door opens just like in MAP02, and you're done! This map is weaker that MAP02, but still fun to play. I found it a good way to pass nine minutes.
Overall, how would Bzzrak advise Jayfeather on the subject of his future maps?
1. Please use the "Secret" flag on linedefs that open item closets. They are really too obvious and make the maps too easy. By the way, a "secret" doesn't always have to be a wall you press to reveal a medkit.
2. The gameplay was all right, but please don't make boring mazes like the one in MAP02.
3. The maps were maybe a bit too linear, but there's nothing really wrong with linearity.
4. Don't be a ZDoom sissy and make a map for vanilla. :]
5. Some new music would've been cool...
6. Use the "map check" option of Doom Builder. There were a lot of unclosed sectors and, as a consequence, lots of HOMs.
7. Needs More Detail (TM)
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The Day of Chains - Serious_MOod
Ultimate Doom - Single Player - Limit Removing - 431.71 KB -
Reviewed by: gaspe
The Day of Chains is a single map (with a bonus ending level) for Doom. This is a birthday map that the author made for the user Chaingunner. The setting is good old corrupted techbase of E2, and here the nice use of tech and flesh mixed together and the overall low brightness give this map a more grim mood. The gameplay relies on very closed spaces and traps, some of which are rather tricky as the health and ammo given isn't really generous. This is a pretty cool level overall, so check out for sure if you particularly love stuff for Ultimate Doom.
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Travelling to the moon - The_trigger AKA Yugiboy85 (Youtube and others) and Chaos (doom CFD)
Doom 2 - Single Player - PrBoom+ - 6.05 MB -
Reviewed by: Not Jabba
Traveling to the Moon is a very large (around 50 minutes to beat) lunar base level in the vein of Valiant E5, but decked out in the CC4 texture set. The map is stunning to look at, with plenty of panoramic views, gorgeous spot lighting, and lots of those cool scrolling forcefield effects that always seem to be at the heart of CC4-tex maps. The whole thing is set to a great laid-back electronica OGG track (at least if you're playing in ZDoom; the textfile makes it sound like Boom players are treated to Jimmy's "Voyage 1," my all-time favorite Doom MIDI), and although the music and the pulsing lights make you want to trance out, the action rarely gives you a break.
This map is very challenging. As you explore around the non-linear central base area, you'll face a lot of what I'm going to call incidental combat on steroids: moderate monster density, plenty of roaming hitscanners, and smallish ambushes at just about every turn. The toughest action takes place in the three peripheral keycard arenas, two of which feature rather elegant slaughter-level battles and one of which has a pair of slightly smaller fights instead. After you collect all three keys (in any order), you open up a final arena for a really impressive multi-stage horde battle that includes several Cyberdemons. There are two things I like about the slaughter-type battles in this map that help bring them down more toward the average player's skill level. First, most of them let you feel out the arena and gather all your ammo before you trigger the enemies via the obvious and ominous switches. Second, the hordes all contain a ton of fodder enemies, making them really fun to blast apart with the rocket launcher (which is easily the favored weapon for this map, as there's a ton of rocket ammo all over). Unless you're an invincible Doom god who demands the utmost difficulty, this map on UV should be a pretty nice balance for just about any experienced player who's looking for a challenge. The one thing that can be irritating at times is the abundance of hitscanners, though they can also be very helpful for infighting purposes.
Traveling to the Moon isn't just fun, it's inspiring -- everything from the architecture to the combat hits the spot. Highly recommended.
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By Bloodshedder
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