This week in doom - week ending October 18, 2015 (doom date 21.7980)

this week in doom is my attempt at keeping you abreast of all the goings on in the DOOM community and, as you will notice, a busy community it is. It's difficult to believe that after 20 plus years this game's community is still as active as it is but, of course, ID Software has helped by releasing Doom 3 10 years ago (or thereabouts) and is now in the process of the new DOOM game (sometime in Q2, 2016?). Can't wait to see the beta shareware, or whatever it's going to be.....

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Thanks to "Fonze" for taking up the mantle of responsibility for TWID and doing the research and writing up TWID for us. Also, Thanks to you, the reader(s), and Community, which have kept Doom alive and relevant for all these years. And, thanks to ID Software, without whom, all this could not be possible. Keep on Dooming!

Also, first off - TWID is a little late this week (ok, 3 days). Why you ask? #becauselife

It's been a slow week in Doom; both for mappers/modders and for me. I suppose things come and go some times; few weeks of tons of good stuff/work done, then one or two of not a whole lot. Still, there were a few gems around the Doom community. Let's start, as always, with uploads to /idgames...

Of which there are only 3. Still, no need to start eyeing the ole double-barrel yet, let's take a look at what we got, then decide if life's still worth living.

Up first, we have "Acid Assault" by mrthejoshmon, who released another fun map to /idgames last week, "Practical Infiltration," and headed the "WOOO(1&2)" gems. "Acid Assault" is a quick map, though you wouldn't guess it from the monster count.

Coming in at 224 monsters, this map only takes 10-15 minutes to run through. This is because 90% of the monsters you face are imps and former humans. Boy was it tough, though. Very little room for error, as health was not forgiving at all, combined with low-tier weapons and ammo that was so tight it was just right made this mob of little men quite formidable. Once again, though no one fight is difficult, as a whole this map was well-designed to be challenging using only low-tiered gameplay. It also features no traps to my recollection; which I found odd, but then again it is an "outside" map so maybe random monster closets make less sense... idk (I'm not paid to think). Back on topic, speaking of the way the map looked...

Oh it had some pretty parts. I thought it a bit strange the way that every opening in some areas had different textured pillars as their borders, but that still is one of the best ways to make something pretty and despite that one thing that struck me as odd, I found this map to be a joy to explore; seeing where the path would take me and what it would look like. It was fairly linear, but didn't seem that way as I played it; I was surprised by the exit. Oh, also, the map has a story to it that states that you are wearing some kind of special acid-resistant suit, so don't be suprised that half of the map is covered in acid and you get to wade through it.

This map uses the TNT iWad and needs Boom or better to run (aka. not Vanilla). Find it here and get exploring: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/a-c/aslt.zip

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Next up is "Vacation At The Incineration Station" by RaphaelMode and can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/p-r/rm_vatis.zip

This map requires zDoom or better with Doom 2 as its iWad.

See that screenshot? That means that your comp is about to lag-out. Possible Blue-Screen-of-Death for older computers. Moral of the story: don't take a direct hit, heh. Despite their graphic-intensiveness, the projectiles do still look cool and the change to the weapons was interesting as well.

Ironically this map is beatable and quite easy once you know where to go and when to go. So close to a troll wad, though, that most players will not like this one. Still, I had fun, so you may too!

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Our last submission to the archives this week comes to us from a new member to the DoomWorld forums, recently "losered" for the only reason I can think of which is that there can only be one Homerfish. Never mind that it's a default avatar; that's not what matters here. Seriously though, it's always a shame to see it have to happen, but sometimes people have to learn etiquette the hard way...

Anyway, the wad's name is "Devile II" by Gustavo6046 and is found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/d-f/devileii.zip

These maps require zDoom or better with the Doom 2 iWad.

They are also really basic, with many new-mapper problems. Still, there's a couple cool ideas thrown in that I wouldn't mind seeing more of, such as ordered switches and stealth/partially stealthed monsters. I like that kind of stuff when its implemented correctly. There were a few spots where I saw stealth monsters here and smiled and those ordered switches were cool. The Labyrinth level was another idea I really liked, but unfortunately here it was not that well done. A good attempt, though. Keep on trying and you'll get better day by day dude!

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Well that wraps it up for the /idgames portion and I'm still not sure I should've put Ole Painless down, so let's take a look at the forums:

Over on the DoomWorld forums there are a couple, not really new, but fun-looking mapsets that are still in-progress.

First up is the "50 Monsters" megawad by AD_79, with Breezeep contributing a few guest maps and Obsidian backing them up with the dehacked work! That's a great team of well-established mappers all contributing to this project and it looks so cool!

The gimmick, if you really want to call it that, here is that each map has exactly 50 monsters. They are also designed for pistol-starts, possibly to ensure that each map lasts more than one minute, heh. Still, given the (small) size of these maps (the fact that they can easily be done on a coffee break) and the ammount of them in here, I'd have to say that these gems are worth an immediate download.

These maps are all Boom-compatible with Doom 2 as the iWad.

These have to be the best set of maps for this week (despite not really being created this week), so give them a go right away! I absolutely love the way these maps look, like that last screenshot of MAP30 and it's "fog" effects. Find them on the dev thread here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/71625-50-monsters-beta-2-is-out/

We also have another megawad that is turning out to be interesting. It's called "Good Morning Viet--" I mean, "Phobos!" SinCity2100 has been cranking out some cool-looking maps, with a confirmed guest map by paymentplan. Check out one of these screenshots:

Not enough? Here's a few more!

"Good Morning Phobos" requires the Boom source port or better, with Doom 2 as its iWad and the CC4 texture pack.

SinCity2100 has a great eye for detailing and he shows it off with these maps. Check out the dev thread here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/71537-good-morning-phobos-doom-megawad-project-secret-map-created-a-map-debate/

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Not much else going on that I've seen, so let's take a look around the internet and see what turns up.

One Man Doom has an excellent review on a Foodles wad, titled "Estranged."

"Estranged" was made for the Boom source port with the Doom 2 iWad and is also a full megawad.

Foodles is perhaps best known for his work with Esselfortium in "Back to Saturn X E1" and doesn't fail to live up to expectations here! Find the full review here:
http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2015/10/estranged.html#more

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Small update on "Oblige" over at its website: http://oblige.sourceforge.net/

"Oblige" is a random level generator for classic games, including Doom (1&2) and Heretic! The update says that work is still in progress and its author, Andrew Apted, hopes to have a proper release by the end of the year!

If you haven't checked out "Oblige" yet, download it and do so right away!

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In the world of Doom 3 we have one new thing coming in:

"Doom Reborn" has received a new update!

Created by a very talented group of mappers, "Doom Reborn" is an attempt to recreate the original Doom in the more modern IdTech4 engine. Basically, Doom in Doom 3 format, heh.

Check out some screenshots!

Download here or here

Man I wish I still had my copy of Doom 3 so I could play the original Doom in it! If you have Doom 3 and are a fan of the originals, this will be right up your alley! If you are like me and no longer have a copy of Doom 3, check out some videos and daydream about it!

That wraps it up for this week in Doom; head over to these links and check out progress on some of these beauties for yourself right away! Thank you all for the continued support to the Doom community and God bless!