This week in doom - week ending January 10, 2016 (doom date 22.8066)

Well, faithful followers of "This week in Doom", here we are in the year 2016. As I have been doing for the majority of the history of Doom's existence, I will continue to bring you new reviews, updated news and much more. This particular page is my modest attempt to keep you abreast of all the current goings on in the Doom community - new Doom wads, new Doom 3 maps, updates on projects, Doom engines and more. Enjoy and Keep on Dooming!

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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!

This Week in Doom: 01.10.16

This Week in Doom: Jan 10, 2016

After a couple weeks on hiatus, This Week in Doom is back! Doom is life; Doom is love; thou shalt not have no other Dooms before Doom. Let's go over what you may have missed during the break.

Happy (belated) 22nd Birthday Doom and 17th Birthday Doom Wad Station! Over the last 19 years, Doom has been my favorite game to play. From back when I was only 7 in the DOS games era on the old IBM, through the Warcraft era, through the Half-Life/Counter-Strike era, through the WoW era, and yes, through the Call of Doody/Battlesqueal era, Doom has always been the one game I always return to. The staying power of Doom is truely something of envy for the rest of the gaming industry. I know that'll I'll be involved with Doom until I die and hopefully it'll be around for another hundred or more!

Doom Wad Station has been one of my favorite sites to check for quite some time now. When I was young I was turned off pWads in the mid-90's and stuck solely with the iWads for a long time. Eventually I started checking out the newer stuff and that was when I stumbled upon the Cacowards and Doom Wad Station. I thought that the Cacowards were a really cool concept and I played some here and there, but what really got me was Doom Wad Station. The "This Week In Doom" articles gave a nice, fresh, overview on what to expect from these wads and saved me from wasting time on the stuff that turned me into a Doom-hermit in the first place and the regular reviews that appeared were on-point for me because they were all fun wads to play. Slowly, over time, I began to appreciate the community more and more until I finally joined DoomWorld in mid-2014 and made my first post in mid-2015 ('bout the same timeline for the Zdoom and Zand forums). If not for Doom Wad Station, I might have eventually joined DoomWorld and the rest of the community, but that likely wouldn't have been for a while. My most sincere thanks to Bob for making this site, to Id for making a game that I'll always come crawling back on my hands and knees to, and to all of the great people that keep Doom alive today on the DoomWorld, zDoom, Zandronum, Odamex, zDaemon, One Man Doom, Realm667, Doom Nexus, Wads In Progress, Choco Doom, Freedoom, Oblige and Doomsday websites, among many others. Also, special thanks to CodeImp and MaxEd for one of the best possible editing softwares and to SirJuddington and Gez for the awesome Slade editing software!

If you're curious about the history of Doom Wad Station - check it out here.

Congratulations to all Cacoward winners this past year!

http://www.doomworld.com/22years/

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Brutal Doom V20b and its starter pack are out! Kick heads like footballs, blast off a revenant's lower half and watch him still attempt to kill you, die from the lower half of a freshly-killed zombieman thrown by a baron! However you experience it, just do it right away!

The long-awaited map pack that is included is great fun to play with the mod and really does a great job working with its own gameplay. This wad is fantastic! Find it here: http://www.moddb.com/mods/brutal-doom/downloads/brutal-doom-hell-on-earth-starter-pack

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On the archives (thanks also to Bloodshredder and The Green Herring for taking on the responsibility of maintaining the archives) there were some really sweet wads released during our hiatus here.

First up we have a wad coming in from DoomWorld's head honcho, Linguica. It's called "InstaDoom." This mod runs however you want it, whenever you want it (as long as you want it before you load up a wad). It also comes with bonus wads which act in much the same way as filters do with cameras, located in 2 different folders for a total of 57. I liked the vibrant colors of "Skyline" personally, but let's face it, nothing looks as good as the Original Doom; except that impse picture the Doomguy took before the current one.

This mod is just hilarious to play with, so give it a shot today! No pun intended. Download it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/combos/instadm.zip

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Second in line is the community tune-up project on Joe Ilya's maps called "License to Ilya" and is found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/megawads/joetune.zip

Well, maybe it's the appocalypse or something, but for once I can say that a project to which Joe was an integral part of was truly something to behold. This wad rocks! Granted, it's a tune-up of many of Joe's earlier maps, but there are a few maps done by Joe, tuned-up by Joe, that I found not only fun to play, but nice to look at. The boy's getting better; Hell yeah. There were also a good deal of fantastic mappers that I tend to look out for (and a few I will have to start looking out for) involved in this tune-up project.

There was one Gustavo map that was tuned-up by Joe as well. It was much better the second time around, so my compliments to Joe on that. They say that one of the best ways to learn and reinforce one's knowledge is to teach.

As a whole I'd have to say that this wad did have a couple rough maps, but oh my God did it have a couple breath-taking maps as well.

This mapset of 17 maps (map slots 01-16+31) was made for Boom format under the Doom 2 iWad. Give it a download!

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Up next is a wad called "Luducrium" by antares031 which can be found here:

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

This wad contains 6 maps in zDoom format for the Doom 2 iWad.

"Luducrium" is one of those, "what if a person who didn't like slaughtermaps made a slaughtermap" type of things. Then you get this:

But the appearance is mostly a joke, these things were not that bad and surprisingly quick to boot. Except MAP05, I will put out a warning that you'd better have IDCLEV05 on speed dial because, well, let's just say the level's name is chain reaction and it involves a Pain Elemental that behaves much like a hydra, then theres 10,000 of them and your comp locks up, so be careful there.

Still, that one thing aside, these maps were tons of fun to play through and were beautiful too. Really cool mechanics on the enemies, but all I'll say is that the initial appearance isn't the only thing that can be deceiving. Give this wad a download today!

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Following that experience is something I've been looking forward to: "Valiant: Vaccinated Edition" by author skillsaw with tons of help from tons of great people! Find it here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/megawads/valve.zip

This megawad runs in Boom format under the Doom 2 iWad, though the author recommends zDoom or Eternity for the optimal experience, PrBoom+ for demos, and Zand for multiplayer.

For those who haven't played the original, you need to check it out. For those wondering what this is, it's a somewhat stripped-down version (the MBF effects) in order to make it compatible with gameplay mods. Give this sweet mapset a go right away!

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Author sonic_HD released a little mod that I thought was cool, "Half-Life Blood Effects" is the name and it can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/combos/hlgudo.zip

This mod ran in zDoom for me and is very lite on the blood effects. This would be great for those who want a little extra blood with their Doom, but not too much.

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Chris 'Shades' Oliveri (aka the SHADESMASTER) released a cool 5-level Heretic mapset called "Despair" which can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/heretic/Ports/despair.zip

This needs GzDoom to run, but boy is it both beautiful and a refreshing Heretic experience. It also has custom things added to it, which fit in very well. Great Heretic mapset worth downloading for any Heretic fan out there!

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"Sheer Poison" is a map that I had the pleasure of playing a month ago, back on the DoomWorld forums. It caught my attention by the thread title's nonchalant mentioning of the level while highlighting the song. After a download I was cursing author Zan-zan-zawa-veia (aka Yakfak)'s name, while still feeling compelled to see what else lie ahead.

You can run this thing in Vanilla and it uses Doom 2 as its iWad.

This map had some tough puzzles in it, which gives the player more time to listen to the song Yakfak composed. It's also tons of fun and a great addition to the puzzle-map set. Find it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom/s-u/shpo1.zip

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Go Go Gadget... Speedmap! The Abyssal Speedmapping Community rears its awesome head for another addition to its arsenal of endless maps! How these guys do it is beyond me, but my hat's off to them for making such sweet maps in only 3 hours a piece.

This mapset was made for Boom format with the Doom 2 iWad.

Check out the 24th edition of the Abyssal Speedmapping Sessions, headed by TheMionicDonut, here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/a-c/abyspe24.zip

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"Estranged" is a 32-level megawad coming to us from author Foodles; find it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/megawads/estrangd.zip

This megawad was made for PrBoom+ and runs with the Doom 2 iWad. It's a grand adventure that's sure to keep you glued to the computer to see just what is next. Download this sweet thing today!

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My Christmases will all forever be haunted by the sight of Grandma's Gingerbread Cookies from Hell thanks to this next mod. "The Gingerbread Knight" is a sound and sprite change for the Hell Knight. He also explodes on death, which I found fitting. Great job, Omegalore, on this one! I look forward to seeing the Santcubus and Rudolf/Pain Elemental thing in a future mod! Perhaps a few Christmases from now there will be sprite replacements for all of the Doom cast... one can hope...

Run this thing in zDoom and find it here: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/xmas/gingerhk

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Happy belated birthday to Rayzik as well! This mapset celebrates his birthday with a series of speedmaps. Only 3 made it in to the final cut; two are just good fun, but one of them is an absolute gem. Any time you see antares031 as a mapper, hit the download button. Find that button here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/p-r/rbd2015.zip

These maps are Boom Compatible and run in the Doom 2 iWad.

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Next up is a cool, new idea in which mappers choose a number and get a semi-randomly generated theme to map for using jmickle66666666's level theme generator. It's called "Doomworld Roulette: Session 1" and is headed by Alfonzo; find it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/p-r/roultt01.zip

These 12 interesting maps run in Boom compatible ports, with Doom 2 as the iWad. This theme for a community project cracks me up, but these guys did an excellent job with what they had! Check out these maps as soon as you can!

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Author Gunsmith released a short, pretty level for zDoom called "Verification Station" and is found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/g-i/gs_verif.zip

This map could easily be a nice MAP01 for a megawad. Great levels of detailing in this thing, though there was some questionable monster placement as well. Still, coming in at 80-something monsters and a difficulty, progression, and (most importantly) time-for-completion fit for a MAP01, why not give this little beauty a whirl?

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"DWANGO: 21st Anniversary" was also released while we were out. This was put together by a team of madmen, led by yet another madman, Doomkid. Find the file here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/deathmatch/Ports/megawads/dwango21.zip

DWANGO has been around for Doom Deathmatches for... well, 21 years; that's a long time! Big thanks to Doomkid and everyone else who contributed to the project and getting it out just in time ;p and keeping DWANGO alive so we all have new maps to kill our friends on. Run these maps in Zdaemon, Odamex, or Zandronum with the Doom 2 iWad.

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Author Pavel 'Pipicz' Tvrzník has released a 32-level megawad titled "Bloodstain" which can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/megawads/bstain.zip

Wow, what an epic megawad. That MAP30 was a masterpiece, even if it was an IoS battle. I highly encourage everyone to take a look at these maps as they are down-right beautiful and fun to play.

These maps are made for limit-removing ports, such as Boom -complevel 2 and use Doom 2 as their iWad.

There were many more wads released the last couple weeks that I didn't have time to cover here, so go check /idgames! http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/

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Now that we're as caught up as we'll ever be, let's take a look at the /idgames archive submissions for this week. This week we have 4 new wads coming in to the archives.

First up is a wad called "Operation Slug" by Diego Marcal (WartHogBR) which can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/oprtnslg.zip

This wad runs in Skulltag or Zdoom with the Doom 2 iWad.

This map was okay. Detailing was nice in some parts and plain in many others. Keep at it, WartHogBR!

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Up next is a multi-map wad hilariously titled "Freudian Slipgate" by authors Alter, Obsidian, Pinchy, General Rainbow Bacon, TheMisterCat, and Marnetmar; find it here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/megawads/freudslp.zip

This set of maps runs in Boom format with Doom 2 as its iWad.

I didn't realise it when I had opened this map set up, but it contains a slaughtermap I had the joy of playing a few months ago, "Green Hell" which has been repurposed for this new wad. Many things have changed since I last played it and it was fun this time around as well, minus an early caco WTF rush.

This map set starts off a little trippy, then go full-on towards the end, resulting in a massive, epic map with a monster spawner that was just nuts and tons of fun, which is followed by a series of same-titled maps cumulating in a battle with some fiery creature who I guess is the Devil, or something. Idk, stories are for nerds; this wad is for every Doomer! Definitely download this beauty today!

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After that great submission we have this little, uh, music mod thing coming in called "Crazy Frog Doom" which does not have much to do with anything, unless you're thinking about those old Crazy Frog Ringtones commercials from years ago. Author mapster10401 apparently has a thing for killing demons while daydreaming that he's Axel Foley. Yup, you heard that right; it's getting Beverly Hills Cop in here. This mod changes all level music to the Beverly Hills Cop theme song as performed by the Crazy Frog. Don't do it, Axel... (doit)

Download it here: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/music/crzyfrog

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Our last submission this week comes to us from author Oleg "CWolf" Vovk, titled "Distress call" and can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/d-f/dcall.zip

This wad also runs in PrBoom+ with Doom 2 as the iWad.

This map was a fun map to play and was genereally pleasing to the eye. You can tell that CWolf put some good thought into how things looked because it turned out well! Some encounters were nicely done, while some could have been better. All-together, this wad is about a 6/10 from me, being better than average, and is worth a shot! So head on over to /idgames and check it out!

Not too busy of a week for the archives, but that just leaves that much more time for the one's we missed. I'm sure out of this giant list of wads uploaded to /idgames the last few weeks that there is something for every Doomer to rejoice over! Give up some 5-stars for some of these things; the authors worked hard enough for it!

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One Man Doom has a new review up of "The Beginning of the End (Part 2)" which follows its earlier review of Part 1. Read KMX's full review here: http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-beginning-of-end-part-2-end2wad.html#more

Then check out some of his other great reviews that were released during our hiatus!

http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/

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Wads In Progress has some details on a new Hexen wad that's on the way. It's called "Morte" by The Architect. Check it out here: http://wadsinprogress.info/?a=listwads&wad=1790

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Doomsday has a new stable build put out and a cool little blog by the crew. Check it out here:

http://dengine.net/blog/2016/01/3d-model-editor/

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"Memento Mori" is a classic megawad worth playing to every Doomer. Check out some awesome demo runs from the guys at the DoomWorld forums here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-speed-demos/55586-memento-mori-demos-complevel-2/4/

Great job with these demos guys!

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In the world of Doom 3, there is a new update to Doom Reborn! The new version is "pre-beta version 1.4" which sounds fancy! Download it and check it out right away!

Thanks to everyone who keeps the Doom spirit alive! Happy New Year and take care until next time!