The /newstuff Chronicles #541

• Tutorial: Music Change - JagDogger2525
  Doom 2 - Single Player - ZDoom Compatible - 4.77 KB
  Reviewed by: Walter confetti
  A little demo wad to show people how to change music, from the author of many other tutorial maps like these already in the archives. It replaces MAP35; the level itself is just a little room with an imp and a super shotgun (maybe too overpowered? Eh, who cares. It's just a demo map). Pass over the four lines in the central section of the room and the music changes at any side with a different track from the default D_RUNNIN.
  
  Good for knowing how to use SetMusic in ZDoom if you didn't know already.
   
• Tutorial: Lifts - JagDogger2525
  Doom 2 - Single Player - ZDoom Compatible - 5.51 KB -
  Reviewed by: Walter confetti
  Another tutorial level made by JagDogger2525 which replaces MAP37, and like the previous one, the level itself itself is a square room (this time bigger and with more hazards than "Music Change") with a super shotgun and two demons as opponents. The lift (yes, there's only a lift) in the title is a basic ZDoom lift that help you get out from a toxic blood pit that divides the room from an island with the super shotgun.
  
  I expected to see more lift examples, like lifts using 3D floors, but I think it's OK for learning ZDoom techniques if you are a newbie... otherwise, skip it.
   
• Simple Mirrored Monsters - Coldiron
  Any - N/A - ZDoom Compatible - 83.04 KB -
  Reviewed by: Spie812
  Crispy Doom is a neat little port which, along with its other features, includes some simple but cool graphical effects. One of those effect is randomly mirroring corpses, adding some variety to a bunch of dead demons. Another effect is colored blood, blue for the cacodemon and green for the hell nobles. Simple features like these are mysteriously absent from even more advanced ports.
  
  The idea of this mod is simple: add both of those effects to your ZDoom-compatible port of choice. What you see is what you get. It works just like it says it does. The mod includes versions for every major IWAD (meaning Heretic, Hexen, and Strife are included) and even some PWADs with custom monsters or palettes (like Ancient Aliens or Valiant).
  
  It's pretty neat stuff. Add it to your autoload (or something)!
   
• Speed Master - Russian Doom Community (see below)
  Doom 2 - Single Player - Boom Compatible - 23.82 MB -
  Reviewed by: obake
  "Speed Master" is a compilation of Russian speedmaps. Quality in general is high, though select maps run into gameplay issues. More on those later.
  
  "Speed Master" has nice variety in themes, given the maps came from three separate mapping competitions. There are atmospheric maps, puzzle maps, and even slightly silly maps. None stand out as looking bad, though some are just OK. On the other side of the coin, there are maps that are absolutely gorgeous.
  
  Gameplay wise, the wad is incredibly tough. There are maps here that will overwhelm even veteran players. While there are certainly parts that are frustrating, the majority is great fun.
  
  The highlights, in my opinion, are:
  
  Map 09: Into the Core - A cool tech map that ends in an expansive, epic way.
  
  Maps 31 and 32 - Map 31 is strange and hypnotic, and 32 is...well, I won't spoil it. ;)
  
  Map 19: Demense of the Sleepless - Such a scary, hectic map, yet surprisingly not too difficult.
  
  Map 30: Hell Island - My favorite map of the set. An out all brouhaha that never slogs. Has an interesting boss, too.
  
  As for downsides to "Speed Master", there are a few clunky maps. Map 05: Safety Advice, has noticeably questionable encounters, especially in an area where you fall into tiny rooms that quickly fill up with Hell Knights.
  
  Map 22: Dimension Dispersion has the only game-breaking bug I found in the mapset: one of the lava pits in the red key room is inescapable and does no damage. There are also a few cases of maps not indicating where the player needs to go, and some maps could certainly use more ammo and health.
  
  But overall, "Speed Master" is a wad that is well worth your time.
   
• Clockwork 70 - Paul Corfiatis (Pcorf)
  Doom 2 - Single Player - Boom Compatible - 156.75 KB -
  Reviewed by: Memfis
  Another level from Paul Corfiatis, one of the most prolific authors of all time. Just like a lot of his works it somewhat suffers from the abundance of rectangular architecture, but the overall structure of the map is neat and the way it gradually unfolds is pleasant to see. Visually I really liked the use of green and red bricks; they stood out nicely in an otherwise very brown setting. However, the best thing about this wad is the custom MIDI provided. It uses a ticking clock as one of the instruments, resulting in a unique and catchy melody. It's worth playing Clockwork 70 just so that you can hear it. But keep in mind that Paul's ammo balance is strict as usual, so careful aiming and the use of chainsaw is recommended.
   
• JAGL2(Just Another Generic Level 2) - ShamanZT
  Doom 2 - Single Player - Vanilla - 100.12 KB -
  Reviewed by: Scotty
  This map is the first effort from ShamanZT and it is a simple techbase jaunt, nothing we haven't seen many times before. Ultimately the experience is as suggested in the name, it is indeed just another generic level. However, there are one or two moderately interesting traps to be found in this map.
   
• Low Memory - Bzzrak Ktazzz
  Ultimate Doom - Single Player - Vanilla - 234.62 KB -
  Reviewed by: leodoom85
  Low Memory is a 2-level mapset by Bzzrak which must be played in Doom 1 and... oh boy, this set is clever and deadly.
  
  As I said before, you start in E1M1 in Doom 1 and... what a way to start. You stand before six doors, but you must choose the correct door or you'll end up crushed (first image). Now you know that this map is NOT any map, so be prepared for traps, and don't be ashamed of using saves. You'll need them.
  
  After the first trial, you'll be teleported to a sort of question (choosing easy or hard) that, to me, doesn't have much relevance to the progress of the map unless I'm completely wrong. But after choosing one option, you'll be teleported back to the beginning, but this time you'll advance further.
  
  Then you'll reach a fleshy area after picking up a soulsphere and you'll know that it's a trap. How can you get out? Simple, look at clues like arrows, or try shooting. After you do some platforming and pick up the red key, you'll reach the next area in which you'll find some colorful architecture that acts as lifts (second image). Be careful of the cacos and imp-hitscanner turrets before proceeding.
  
  After crossing into the next area, you'll reach more platforming areas with shooting a switch included (third image) with a mean crusher trap. Also, if you fall, you need to reach a teleporter nearby, but fortunately there's no damaging floor. That teleporter leads you to a special area with a bunch of teleporters and their respective texture showing the area that will be revealed as long as you progress more in the map (fourth image).
  
  The next area can be confusing and it can potentially stop you from progressing because there are more crushers with an invulnerability sphere in a secret area, and if you're not careful, it will activate those crushers. But if you're successful, you'll find more switches, tricks and traps until you find the blue key, which will lead you to the exit.
  
  E1M2 is just a non-functional, weird map where you need to press use to exit. Anyway... Low Memory is not the usual map where you kill everything in sight; the map itself will try to kill you instead. Neat challenge that will test your skill and your sanity, and it's up to you players to try this map.
   
• RetributioN Trilogy - Fenes Octavian Romulus (DooM_RO)
  Doom 2 - Single Player - Boom Compatible - 20.27 MB -
  Reviewed by: SP_FACE1
  This mapset consist of three levels. The first two are enormous maps, and the third one is a small Doom 2-like final map. I played this on Hurt Me Plenty.
  
  The first level is a techbase map. It was released first as a separate map to replace E2M8. Its style is reminiscent of episode 1 and episode 2 base levels with small abstract hellish areas and caves here and there. You begin your quest in a subway car which takes you to this huge base with empty halls and spacey, dimly-lit corridors. The author says in the description that the levels aim to give the player a feeling of exploration, and that's what I got right from the start. This sentiment is emphasized by the soothing and a bit eerie ambient soundtrack, which is a very good fit for the level. I don't usually pay that much attention to music, but now I did because it was such a suitable choice.
  
  The visual style is a bit more detailed than Doom's original techbase theme. However, the detailing varies a lot. Sometimes you come across plainly textured, fully lit, big blocky rooms that take you back to the nineties, but mostly you encounter areas with more detail. The areas near the start were less good-looking than the later parts.
  
  The layout is very interconnected. Especially in the beginning you can find multiple semi-secret panels that take you to a corridor which connects to the other side of the level. The level opens passages like this the more you progress.
  
  The pace of the level is pretty relaxed. At start you are greeted with empty areas with no monsters, and everything is suspiciously silent. Some single Demons show up after wandering for a while, but the feeling of being alone in this huge base stays with you. You'll encounter your first herd of enemies in the outside area on top of a cliff. And when you enter the cave area you'll start to get enemies in your face. The enemy fights in the beginning areas are more close combat. I usually evaded the first bigger encounters by running around them, which turned out to be a good strategy, as that way I found better positions to shoot at them.
  
  After you get the blue keycard and go south to the blue door area the enemies appear more from a distance, such as on top of crates or behind grilles on the walls. This area contained a lot of cannon fodder, Zombies, Sergeants and Imps. It was very soothing to kill them en masse. You still get enemies in your face too. The visual style also got better. There was more consistent detailing and the rooms got more vertical.
  
  The area behind the yellow door continued the same rhythm; you enter peaceful and spacious areas, sometimes enemies run after you, sometimes you get to slay them from a distance. The open area with the zigzag path and pillars over the slime presented an enjoyable fight. The walls were filled with Imps shooting at you from the distance while Cacodemons were flying in the middle and you had to run around the path throwing rockets at them while avoiding falling down to the slime.
  
  After the second half I started running out of ammo. This happened more than once. Well, I had a lot of plasma ammo but I had no plasma rifle. If I'm not mistaken you only get the plasma rifle after the Cyberdemon fight, which I think was not fair. There was a BFG in the level but I cannot remember now if I got it or not. However I'm sure I didn't have BFG in the Cyberdemon room. Maybe the BFG was a secret. There were 18 secrets in total. I found half. There were many secrets where you could see the item from a window and then had to figure out how to get there. Those were nice and logical puzzles.
  
  The fight before the exit is probably the roughest. You get a lot of Demons, Barons and a Spider Mastermind. But in the end it's not that big of an issue because you can compartmentalize them to a room and shoot them through the windows or make them fight each other.
  
  It took me almost an hour to finish the level even though I did not get lost. It was a pleasure to stroll through the map and admire the areas despite the small throwbacks to the nineties here and there :) I think the author succeeded very well in giving the player the feeling of exploration in the first level.
  
  The second map has Doom 2 styled abstract hell visuals. Actually it has almost all kinds of areas. Caves, rocky cliffs, lava, slime, organic, gothic, marble and what have you. Whereas the first map has a slower, almost wandering pace with a hauntingly soothing ambient track, the second map is more hectic, aggressive and has a metal song as soundtrack. The fights didn't always feel fun. There were too many Chaingunners at distance. The open area with the Quake's Q logo on the ground was the first time I thought "I'm gonna IDDQD if this hitscanning continues." And it sadly did, but thankfully not all the time. In general this map is much more slaughtery than the first one. Also this map is much larger than the first one and there are over a thousand monsters.
  
  I must say I did not find that many things to like in this map. I did not get any feeling of exploration here. The layout was confusing. It didn't feel interconnected at all. Yes, there were teleporters, but it's always hard to figure out where they take you. Also killing started to feel almost like work at times, and after an hour I was considering giving up on the map.
  
  The western part of the map was dedicated to getting the blue key. The eastern part was for acquiring the yellow key. And in the middle you entered the area with the red key and exit. That sounds simple but it wasn't. I got frustrated and went astray more than once. I was at a loss what the various buttons were supposed to open. It didn't help that the abstract hellish landscape of Doom 2 is not my favorite theme. I also think the styles changed too much. But there were some areas that I liked. For example, the section with organic texturing was one of the best parts in the level. Other good areas were the library and the red gothic cathedral.
  
  The third and last map was almost a traditional Romero's head endgame map but instead you had to push two buttons to finish it. The music choice for this map was weird. I guess in some sense it fits the level. I was pretty exhausted from the second map and I rushed the final map as fast as I could.
  
  TL;DR
  The first map is without a doubt the strongest. Vast, interconnected and explorative techbase map with some nice detailing, relaxing pace, interesting fights, and great ambient music. The second map is a gigantic level with a mishmash of styles. At times it feels like your are working at Switch Hunting Incorporated instead of enjoying a game, and then you get perforated by a Chaingunner. The last map is OK but I'm not sure if it was that necessary. In fact the levels feel so different from each other that I wonder if it was a good idea to combine them into one WAD.
   
• SOOM - CorndogScammer
  Ultimate Doom - N/A - ZDoom Compatible - 28.42 MB
  Reviewed by: Walter confetti
  This is quite an interesting idea: the author of this mod made a simple music jokewad using the original Doom soundtrack, but modifying every instrument with a sample from the very start of the song "All Star" by Smash Mouth (the "some" from "somebody told me..." from that track). The result is pretty exhilarating and you have to listen to it to get the experience. The only thing that I didn't like is that there's only a Doom 1 music conversion, while I expected a Doom 2 version also... Anyway, download this and play it with other jokewad mods, surely it will be fun!
   
• The Cursed Hangar - Jonathan Dowland
  Doom 2 - Single Player - Boom Compatible - 293.58 KB -
  Reviewed by: Myst.Haruko
  "The Cursed Hangar" is a Boom compatible map for Doom. It was made for the Freedoom project, but it was replaced sometime around 2017, so this map was edited, fixed, and submitted to /idgames. It plays identically to vanilla Hangar. Some zombies and imps to shoot, and some switches to press. Most of them were near corners as shotgun meat. It wasn't hard to avoid projectiles or find hidden areas. Not much to say about it, besides the neat custom SFX for the imps.
  
  Map layout was interesting. I liked some touches, like the outside area for air transport or pools of slime. It really resembles a hangar of some sort. I actually disliked the lighting, as this is way too dark for some ports.
  
  Some Boom format things were used – like transparency for windows, barrels explosions with texture/floor changes at the start, or colormaps to transfer to a red colour for going down the stairs for the switch or secret.
  
  I noticed some misalignments and cut off textures on flats and some problems with green slime floors, and one unclosed sector in same green slime area (source ports like GZDoom say that line 2573 is unclosed).
  
  Anyway, this map is perfect for lunch break as it won't even take 10 minutes to beat.
   
• Earth Assault - Peter Hunt (Seidolon)
  Doom 2 - Single Player - ZDoom Compatible - 317.69 KB -
  Reviewed by: leodoom85
  Earth Assault is a three-level, short, fast-paced mapset made by Seidolon which resembles some maps in TNT. Time to review this bad boy.
  
  Map 01 stars, and a barrel is crucial for dispatching the first group of zombies, but there's no indication of a door to get out, which can be confusing (first image). I consider that the only downside of the map and the whole wad, so don't worry, it gets better after that.
  
  The next area reminded me of typical architecture found in Doom and TNT, like a mix of both (second image), and that combination is present in the rest of the maps. The monsters will make you feel surrounded, but since those monsters are low-tier mixed with a hell knight and some cacos, it won't be a problem. And nearby some secrets are there, including some armor.
  
  As you progress, more traps will activate, so stay alert. This map has a lot of monsters for a first map, around 150. After that, you'll reach the last part (third image) in which you will find more powerful monsters like revenants, but you can dispatch them quickly.
  
  Near the exit you'll find more secrets and some great goodies that will keep you in form for the next map. Great and enjoyable first map.
  
  Map 02... surprise... couple of imps waiting for your shotgun (fourth image). There are three ways to go at the starting point. This map starts a bit quiet but not for long, because after some minor fights and picking up the yellow key, the map will be slightly harder.
  
  The outside area leading to the yellow door (fifth image) is perfect for some traps. After pressing the switch leading to the exit path, a LOT of monsters, including an archvile, will appear in that big area. Some infighting will definitely help.
  
  The exit (sixth image) is just more monsters, but expect some barons for the last resistance. This is the map where you can get the rocket launcher if you find the secret. Short map for the size but it's still fun to play.
  
  Map 03 starts with a group of monsters surrounding you, including chaingunners, plus some radioactive pools and some secrets (seventh image).
  
  You'll find some big areas, like a hangar or something, leading to a sort of rocky maze involving more monsters at the top and more monster traps (eighth image). This is even more reminiscent of TNT than Doom 2 due to how the map is presented to you, and I like it... it feels different somehow.
  
  After picking up the yellow key, you'll reach a key point in the map involving more monsters, traps, an exit for which you need the blue key, a path leading to the red key, and a soulsphere (ninth image).
  
  Before reaching the blue exit switch, you'll need to fight more monsters, and of course, closet traps (tenth image). After activating the last switch, more teleporting mid-tier monsters will appear, but you can dispatch them quickly with the rocket launcher.
  
  More barons and revenants are waiting for you in the exit... not surprising as you've killed more than 300 monsters so far. This map was great in terms of fights, gameplay pace and use of monsters.
  
  Overall, it was a nice mapset that you can finish in one sitting. Fairly hard, not very difficult. Good aesthetic architecture and detail for the maps that, like I said, feels like a mix of Doom and TNT. Great stuff Seidolon!
   

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