This week in doom - week ending November 8, 2015 (doom date 21.8001)

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.....

==========================================================================================

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!

       This Week in Doom: 11.08.15

Doom is a truly great thing; it means so much to so many different people. It's hard to put a pinpoint on it, but I think the greatness of it comes from two areas. First, everything is customizable within it; we can do so much with so little. But that means nothing without the great standards put out by Id in the first place. Everything from the action and gameplay to the level design and aesthetics to even the music. No, especially the music.

It's both funny and sad to watch the gradual progression over time of music in media becoming less and less prevalent. I always think of not only the black and white, silent movies, but even stuff from the 80's, like the Conan the Barbarian movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and, of course, the older cartoons, like Looney Toons. There was music through-out, to the point where almost the entire piece had some song playing in the background. It made for a better experience, to me. Like the old mob movies where everybody gets lead poisoning while opera plays in the background. Movies and such actually had entire musical scores written specifically for them. The same has been true for video games. Games like Metroid, Contra, Zelda, and Doom set high standards for their music and even for the songs alone. It keeps me coming back. One of the biggest assets of Doom, (but not Doom 3 :\ ) to me, has always been the music. It's funny how a great song can make good wad great, or even turn a bad wad into something good.

As much as this might sound like music is the only thing that matters to me, it's only part of the total package that Doom is. Doom's design allows it to pass as an arcade game, an action game, an adventure game, or a horror game. Everything is so malleable that it only makes sense as to why we still keep it alive; they just don't make 'em anymore like they used to.

Of course that's not to say that Doom maps haven't gotten better over the years, but of course as things get easier we take for granted more and more the basics of mapping for Doom. It's a shame to see new mapper's go straight to mapping for advanced ports rather than keeping it simple and practicing the basics. Then again, isn't it like that with everything? Fundamentals, people... lol.

Anyway, before I rant out and discuss philosophy for this whole article, let's get to the reason we're all here: what's happened over the last week?

Starting with /idgames as always, first up we have a mod called "Combat Redux v1.0.0" by Robert "El Magnifico" Dyer, found here:                                           http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/utils/exe_edit/patches/cr-v1_0_0



Umm... this was interesting, to say the least. Not really much to show here; it's kinda one of those things best experienced yourself. Literally everything is frustrating, which sucks because I kinda like the ideas implemented, just not like this. No, not like this at all. Let's start with that first screenshot. Yup, giant explosions. Now, I like giant explosions, but wanna take a guess as to the size of the Cyberdemon's explosions? (just as big) Combine that with nerfing the player's run speed and jump height for some reason and you can guess the result. In addition, there is a special debuff for being below 30% health: you get to run slower than the tortoise you already were! Thank God the author at least had the foresight to regenerate health back up to 30%, but all this is adding up. But that's not all; in addition, enemy speeds are buffed, as are their projectiles. Imagine trying to outrun a homing missle or a Tomahawk missle in real life; it's about as effective here. Throw in massive recoil and the only strategy is to hug corners. (and imagine this is Ghost Recon with the one-shot-kills) On top of all that, all damage is massively buffed, so just about any nuclear explosion can and will kill you. Seriously, if the explosions would have been mushroom clouds this all would have been worth it.



Each weapon has a vastly different feel to it than in vanilla. No, not everyone is as special as the rocket launcher or the BFG, but every weapon does have something special: massive recoil which, admittedly, can be partially reduced through crouching. I like recoil to some extent and don't mind the camera kick so much, but to this degree it is just another major nerf to the player and that many less shots you'll be able to fire (or see coming towards you) before your inevitable death. Speaking of death, headshots are possible. Combine everything we know so far and guess how long I survived on Plutonia's level one. (literally 2 steps forward, then I was headshot to 10%, followed by momentary shock, (standing still) another one step to the side, then my head exploded. Granted, I'm pretty sure I should be dead after one shot to the head, (unless I'm a Dedite) but... that's not a good introduction to this mod. Then again, in hindsight I realize that it was the perfect introduction to this mod. Hey, I even managed to headshot myself!



Now that's something to be proud of. I was ready to kill myself anyway after playing this; there was no new musi-- I mean, this was just punishing. So, to wrap things up, we have a slow player, furthered at <30% health, combined with massive recoil, fast monsters, fast projectiles, headshots, a massive damage buff across the board, and giant explosions. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, ammo reduction; you start with and receive less of it. Idk why you'd want to punish yourself and play this, but if you do it requires only Zandronum and the wad of your choice to run. Thank God that's over with.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next up we have a map called "Mevak" by Freemanmod1338, found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/mevak.zip



This wad runs in GzDoom with the Doom 2 iWad.



Hey does that look farmilar? That's because it is!



Ugh, everything from the massively mono-textured walls/rooms, to the totally uneccessary switch-traps, to even the music make me want to never look at this thing again, and I love metal. You know, I was wondering why this file was so big; it's because a garage band is playing in the background. Seriously, if you're gonna make a small map have a huge file-size, how about a little sound quality? Were their no better recordings to use? Whatever; either way, keep on mapping, play other's maps, keep on learning, and one day you'll be making 'em good. This is why you start with vanilla and work your way up. Remember the fundamentals; your foundation for mapping.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Third is a map called "Steambot Impy" by Parovoz and can be found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/g-i/impy.zip

                                                *

This map starts off with some potential and did have some cool stuff going on, but ultimately it turns into mess of HOM's, stuck enemies, and other first-time mapper mistakes. Once again, it's best to start with the simplicity of vanilla and work your way up to the advanced features of GzDoom. I did like the theme though.



Hey, is that imp flying?



This wad is in GzDoom under the Doom 2 iWad.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next two submissions are deathmatch maps from JagDogger2525.

The first is titled "Lava Pit DeathMatch" and is found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/deathmatch/Ports/j-l/lavapit.zip



There is no info about the port required; I used Boom to test it so I know it works on that. Doom 2 is the iWad and it's MAP02.



It looks like a fun, small map to kill 1-3 other players on. Then again, there's a problem with one player getting all the goodies up top while other players slowly die in the lava. Still, worth a shot.

JagDogger2525 also sent in another wad, this time with 3 maps. It is called "Three-in-One DeathMatch for Everyone" and found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/deathmatch/Ports/s-u/tripledm.zip



I can only assume that these maps are under the same categories as the previous one, since they are recommended as a set. This time it's maps 03, 04, and 05. On second thought, these have slopes, so zDoom is the required engine.



As if that was the only oversight here, these maps are just... lacking. I would not play a deathmatch on any of these maps. But I will say, you can see progress in the last map of the set.



This map looks kinda cool, but once again is lacking in critical areas, such as flow. I'm not even a huge DM person and even I can tell something's wrong here. Like little hidden spots for the map creator to camp out while others will likely never find them. I hate stuff like that, but it does give a satisfying feeling when you can still outsmart and outplay the creator. Wish I had the chance to here, if just to discourage stuff like that.



Still, I can see progress, so keep at it and one day...

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Up next we finally have a good wad come in. Thank Memfis for mapping this week. This ones called "AHAHAC" and is found here: http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/ahahac



Man I would love to see a colaboration between Memfis and a strong detailer. While Memfis's maps are not the most beautiful-looking, hyper-detailed pieces of work, they are always good fun to play. This one had me stumped more than once, too!



Yep, this map had its fair share of puzzles and eventually I ran out of (my) time. That really sucks because I did enjoy this map. It's almost more of a puzzle map than anything, at least in my opinion.



It's a fairly big map, though not huge. It takes some time to run through, though, as the puzzles each take a minute to figure out. Quite frankly, I'm not a huge fan of timed events, though they do have their place. This map has plenty of timed puzzles, so expect to repeat some actions over and over, heh. There were also a good amount of difficult spots and more than a few really cool areas!



If there's one thing you can count on Memfis to do, it's produce a map that's better than average on a consistent basis. Hey, with those stats Memfis would make a great golfer, lol.



This map is for Boom format (-complevel 2) under the Doom 2 iWad. Give it a shot right away!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The last submission this week is called "Section 9" by Skumball, found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/s-u/section9.zip



I was trying to remember that name and where I recognized it from; he's the guy who made "The Gap" a couple months ago. You know, for a simple map, I liked "The Gap." This map is a bit more complex, though still small and linear. Unfortunately it doesn't all revolve around a gap, but it *was* lots of fun to play.

I guess Skumball likes short and sweet maps, which is perfect for me. This one takes about 5 minutes to run through, maybe 10 your first time.



Man, I loved the secrets in this map. All of them were well-done. The monster placement was also on-point, as were health and ammo.



No info (ONCE AGAIN!) on what port, though this says tested in Zandronum. I opened it in PrBoom+ and ran into a lift that doesn't work, likely due to a trigger-line directly in front of it. Still, prolly zDoom or better on this one, though I went with Zandronum because the author did too. Doom 2 is the iWad. Give this quick one a go! Then try out "The Gap" with the extra time you save not playing the first 5 wads this week! Then play 'em both over again because they're so short!

Thank goodness for the last two maps this week; if not for them, there might not have even been a This Week in Doom (no, I'm not talking about the article). It's funny how serendipitous the forward of this article was. New mappers should read, follow, study, then reread these wonderful articles posted to Doom World by Linguica and others:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-editing-tutorials/

Still, any good submission to the archives makes it a good week. Let's check the forums...

===========================================================================================================

From a quick look at the forums, we find a few gems.

At DoomWorld, there is a map creatively titled "1" by Voltcom9, found here:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/84607-a-wolfendoom-map-for-gzdoom/



This is a WolfenDoom map for (G)zDoom and I ran it under the Doom 2 iWad.

What a fun map to play! Voltcom did an excellent job with everything, from the visuals, to the layout and design, to the gameplay. I also liked its comedic twist...

*

It wasn't tough by any means, though ammo was just right. Health was fairly scarce, but the threat levels were low, so it felt right.

This was also a very short map to play; perfect for a coffee break! I'd love to see more maps like this.



Download this gem now and add it to your coffee break list today!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking at the zDoom forums, there's an interesting WIP called "Spellcross - The Last Battle" by Blackgaze, found here: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=49873&sid=5bc78aca4f00c9f4767bf30ee3e62cdd



Not much to say here, yet, as it's still in early development, but it looks like it has potential. Keep an eye out for this.

===============================================================================================================

As I scan the typical places for good news, I find a few sweet things.

At One Man Doom there are two new reviews up from KMX E XII. The first is a review of "Icarus: Alien Vanguard 2015" by Alexander "Eternal S. The review can be found here: http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2015/11/icar2015-icar2015wad.html#more



This set of 11 maps was designed for Vanilla! Still, the author recommends PrBoom (-complevel 2). It required both the Doom2 iWad and Icarus.wad to run. I loved these maps when they came out a couple months ago, you will too!

The second is of a REALLY sweet 4-map set called "Ol' No Name" by Octavarium, found here: http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2015/11/ol-no-name.html#more

This map set is for Boom format; Doom 2 iWad. These maps are tough, but it only makes seeing what new beauties the visuals have to offer more satisfying. I loved exploring these maps, with danger around every turn. Nowhere felt safe; it was excellent! Give these sweet maps a go right away!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Doomsday fans rejoice; the server move has been completed.

===============================================================================================================

In the spirit of Doom, I have decided to start adding in a speedrunning/demo section into these articles! While not exactly my thing, these players seem to have a lot of fun doing this and produce some really sweet demos to watch. So grab a pizza and some beer(s), plug in a few of these, and be entertained!

"Sunlust" is a fairly new megawad that is just tons of fun to play and features breathtaking visuals. The speedrunning and demo community has been cooking up some really sweet runs of maps all over Sunlust, including the more obscure runs, such as pacifist runs! Take a gander over here and ready your brews...

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-speed-demos/74096-sunlust-summer-of-69-demos-complevel-9/3/

===============================================================================================================

I suppose the Doom 3 modding/mapping community is small, because I see nothing new yet again. Shame, but with the other great wads that came out this week, I suppose it isn't so bad; more time for Doom 2!

That about does it for this week in Doom; thank you for reading and continuing to support the community!