this week in doom - week ending April 3, 2016 (doom date 22.8149)

As I have been doing for the majority of the history of Doom's existence, I will continue to bring you new doom wads, 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. And, don't forget - pretty soon, we'll be able to celebrate the release of Doom (2016). Enjoy and Keep on Dooming!

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This Week in Doom: 04.10.16

It's funny how something as relatively simple as an ancient video game, Doom, can mean so much to so many different people. From people who love/hate famous levels like The Chasm, to people who cannot agree on what is considered "normal" to Doom. What makes a gimmick and what makes innovation? How abstract is okay? What happens when you leave the coffee pot on all day? Life's unaswerable questions...

Regardless of what you consider Doom to be, how it should look, how it should play, or what is okay, Id struck a major homerun 22 years ago that continues to prove itself even to this day! Without further b/s that nobody cares about from me, let's dash over to /idgames and see what kind of goodies we got!

Up first is a wad that ninja'd its way into the list for last week; "Something Awful, part 3 - 7 + 6" by Bzzrak Ktazzz can be found here: http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom/s-u/sthawful.zip

Like its prequel it runs in The Ultimate Doom iWad in vanilla.

Well now this one was kinda interesting. At first it sucked, let's be honest, but I played it through and thought it was kinda cool that though a whole pack of barons comes in when you have little ammo to deal with them, the later BFG allows you to come back and finish them off quickly, assuming you let them chase you for a bit, which I didn't. I tried to kill them, wound up running out of ammo and going back to the start through an obvious secret because the progression-exit was obscure. After collecting all ammo available, I had barely enough to kill the barons, as tedious as it was. Upon finding the next area, there was a BFG immediately present with tons of ammo... Seeing the BFG like this with all this ammo, I killed the crowd of enemies ahead and wondered why such a vast over-abundant quantity of ammo would be here, then it hit me; it was for the barons I wasted my time on. Nice. So that was one cool thing about this map. The rest, meh. Still, I see obvious improvement from previous maps, so keep it up dude.

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Our second submission to /idgames is something critical for every Doomer to have, both for its use and its historical importance. "TNT: Evilution: MAP31 fix" is a little file that fixes the yellow key in the iWad's 31st map. While appearing in multiplayer, the key was accidentally tagged to only appear in multiplayer, effectively breaking the level for anyone unaware of the speedrunning trick to bypass half of the map. This patch fixes the flag and makes the level fully-completable again.

Big thanks to Master O for providing the community with links to several mirrors! Find the fix here: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/TeamTNT/finaldoom/tnt31fix

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Next up is a wad called "Maximum Stafe" by D.Scratch, which can be found here:

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

The author states that this is a "speedrunning map," which sounds a bit interesting. It runs in... zDoom (what?) under the Doom 2 iWad.

Still, despite its seeming identity confusion, it is a very fun map and I got it down to 20 seconds, though the author does a fantastic job of diverting your attention on the first couple runs, but once you get it in your head to plow past the enemies and damn the enticing goodies (and know where to go) it does go pretty quick. Fun little map here, though very easy for a speedrunning map. I think this map could have benefited from difficulty settings, with the current setting being HMP and UV definitely without the Invul sphere, perhaps with some more opposition as well. Still, give this one a go when you can!

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D.Scratch has our fourth slot for the week as well, with a map called "Second Infuscomus" that can be found here: http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/s-u/secinfsc.zip

To be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this one as much as I did; this map was awesome! Very much a horror vibe to it with the 3 bosses and playing on the max difficulty setting had me cowering in a corner taking stock of what was going on and what I had. It was very freaky to run from the bosses. The level was beautiful; very well-crafted and the lighting was on-point. Not that it was an over-detailed masterpiece, but it was very nicely built and textured and you can tell the author put care into it. Same goes for D.Scratch's other map this week, both solidly detailed and textured.

The bosses themselves were kinda Hell to fight; boss 1 was just tough to contain and his attack was devastating, though he was fairly manageable with the CG. Boss 2 was that one... that one that made me run away and that one that I honestly did not want to fight. Fighting boss 2 kinda sucked, not gonna lie; he was hard and a bit tedious because I couldn't figure any way to not cheese it. Boss 3 was my favorite, a very fun boss to fight; perhaps the easiest, too, now that I think about it, though that could've just been for me. All of these bosses are from the Realm667 repository, just re-stat'd up, so at least they are familiar faces.

This map also runs in zDoom under the Doom 2 iWad. Give it a shot today!

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Oh God well here goes my next day; superstar Ribbiks uploaded "Pepper" to /idgames! I'm always down for some punishment in some Ribbiks maps. Find this collection of three awesome maps here:

http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/p-r/pepper.zip

These maps are Boom-compatible and run in the Doom 2 iWad. They are also "reality" maps, meaning that the player starts at 1% health and traditionally doesn't get more.

About the smallest maps I've played from Ribbiks, two of these maps come in with less than 40 monsters and the last contains only 82. Don't let the low monster count fool you, though, as these maps were nail-biters to the bitter end. Aesthetically these maps all fit a common theme with the bright greens and reds throughout, in addition to the common tan walls. All of these maps had really cool, small-scale, open environments that made each map feel much bigger than it really was while also allowing the player to catch little glimpses of other parts of the level as they played on. Ribbiks always has cool lighting effects going on in his maps and these ones don't fail to deliver on it, meshing the dark sectors seemlessly with those bright greens and reds, making this a beautiful mapset.

Being reality maps, any moment can be your last and don't expect to find any health kits lying around... oh, except that Soulshpere in MAP02; might as well pick that up... only to find that it was a cruel joke by the author; I laughed. Gotta love the little things. Hitscanners were very sparse, but present and it's funny when a zombieman can present a greater threat than a revenant, as present in MAP01. No encounters felt pushed to the extreme and compared to normal Ribbiks maps this was kind of tame. Each encounter was easily managable with the right strategy and most involved too few enemies to require a strategy. There was a really cool encounter involving a rad suit effectively used as a survival timer towards the end of MAP02, which I thought was really cool. Anyway, enough of my mindless jibber-jabber; download these maps right away and pop 'em in for a great, tense experience!

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Sixth on the list for the week is "Old Refinery" by Carlos Lastra and can be found here: http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/oldrfnry.zip

This map runs in zDoom with the Doom 2 iWad and *jumping is required* to complete.

I wound up skipping a few parts because, you know, jumping breaks maps if specific measures are not taken. Still, that aside, this easy map features 77 enemies to start and is a nice, quick play. Really not a bad map and looked about average. Give this one a shot.

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Following that is a map called "United Aerospace Computers" by Alek "Hornbuckle" Streisel, which can be found here: http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/newuac.zip

This wad runs in the Doom 2 iWad and says it needs no advanced engine, but that only GzDoom and Zandronum were used for testing; that's usually a good thing, right? Ten bucks it's got 3D floors.

Well it looks like I owe all of our readers 10 bucks; that's okay. You want it, come get it. This wad looked like something from the 90's, and not in a good way. I'll give it that the very beginning was alright, but everything after that felt like a first wad.

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Our eigth and final wad this week is called "T 3 S T" by Topi Hattukangas; find it here: http://doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/s-u/t3st.zip

This seven-map wad runs in the Doom 2 iWad and was only tested in GzDoom, which seems to not only be a recurring trend this week, but also a recurring trend for Mr. Topi here. Pet peeves aside, this wad was okay.

A lot of plain stuff here aesthetic-wise, but these maps were kinda cool in a few spots and that made it a bit more interesting to explore. Give 'em a look.

An amazing eight new wads for the week! Great jerb folks! Let's spelunk the fourms.

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On the DoomWorld forums Benjogami has put out a map with plans for more called "Toilet of the Gods." This map is for the Doom 2 iWad, is Boom-compatible and he describes it as "slaughter, I think?" Ribbiks termed it a "slaughter-puzzle." I say it sounds interesting so let's see what we got!

Wow; what a fun and cool-looking map; interesting architecture, cool sky, sweet monster recolors! This thing was tough as nails and certainly NOT for everyone; oh but it was totally for me! To start with the looks, well, you can see it enough for yourself; very wide-open map for the most part, though things tended to get mighty cramped later on. Lotta mandatory platforming and some of it was tough to pull off with no monsters around, let alone with 100 cacodemons and 500 HK's (not really, but you get my point) firing at you from all sorts of angles. Still, this map right here... was just such a great map.

The enemy set itself doesn't sound too daunting, most are HK's and most of the remainder are cacos, but their placement and numbers is what made them tough. The beginning pits you, well, in a pit with HK's all around you and that's one of the easiest fights (which killed me prolly 5 times, though the platforming being tough and damaging floors didn't help my situation, heh). Oh yeah, lots of damaging floors and to fall off the level means death. This map was very unforgiving in those senses, but at the same time it also provided tons of health and ammo, allowing the player to dish and take tons of damage. Basically the only things you don't want to do here are: a, get shot by a rocket, b, fall, or c, get surrounded. Aside from that the map really wasn't too bad. I like stuff like this that makes the environment as much of a hazard as the enemies and the large-scale/openness of levels like this is always cool to look at. This wad is a keeper; I hope Benjogami continues to add more maps to this one!

Find this tough beast on its DoomWorld thread here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/87183-toilet-of-the-gods/

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Because I am a masochist and one Ribbiks wad isn't flat-out enough for the week by itself, "Nefertiti" is a wad floating around the DoomWorld forums and being from Ribbiks you know they are top-notch. These four maps are Boom-compatible with the Doom 2 iWad and were made in early February. I cannot convey enough how great of a mapper Ribbiks is and though his maps are typically ludicrously hard, they are always worth playing (yes, even if you have to go in on the easiest difficulty level; that's what they're there for!). It's rare to find mappers that can offer a full-package in terms of fun gameplay and stunning visuals, but Ribbiks is one of those few.

These were probably the easiest maps from Ribbiks that I've played, but they still had a good few parts that were tricky. One big plus for some people is that much like "Pepper," these maps were not slaughter maps. All four of these maps were pretty quick runs, too. Each map had its own, unique theme that was quickly established and evident immediately from opening the map. I really loved the look of each of the first three maps, but wasn't so into the fourth one. If the theme was skin-tech mixed with Romero's "Tech Gone Wrong" theme then it was cool-looking, but I just wasn't into the overuse of the COMPTALL textures everywhere or the outside, scrolling, door-textured walls. But those are nitpicks, the rest of the map was great!

As I said, the gameplay of these maps was very easy-going, considering the author. Health and ammo was nicely placed and the varying difficulty levels seemed to still offer most of the thrills of UV. Monster placement was as always nicely done. I would say that if Ribbiks maps have turned you off in the past due to difficulty, slaughter, or time, both of the wads covered this week here are worth a look. If you are already a Ribbiks fan, like myself, then of course there is no reason not to play both of these right away!

Head on over to the DoomWorld forums and download this terrific beauty here:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/85907-nefertiti-wad-4-maps/

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Wildweasel's "'(File)Size Matters' 64K Competition" thread on the zDoom forums is heating up with more competition as the deadline draws closer. There is still 2 weeks and a couple days to go for you to get your submissions in; let's see what you can do!

Check the thread out here: http://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=50859

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On the Zandronum forums there is a cool-looking new blaster pistol by CWolfRU, find it here: https://zandronum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=7241

It is very cool, but it does disrupt a bit too much of the field of view for my liking. Still, it worked in zDoom for me and was a lot of fun to use; give it a shot when you can!

Great stuf!

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There are some really cool TAS demos rolling into DoomWorld and they're pulling out all the tricks from the hat! Some good discussion going on, too. I highly recommend watching some of these demos as they are not only informative to watch, they're damn entertaining! Awesome job guys!

Check out the thread here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-speed-demos/73574-tas-tool-assisted-demos-part-2/3/

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No news for Doom 3 this week, but the Doom Reborn team is looking for good people to help set it free. Check out their site here: http://www.doomreborngame.com/

Enough of my prattling; get back to Doom!

That about wraps it up for this week. Once again, Vinny and I would like to thank YOU, the people who keep the community alive, for visiting this tiny corner of the internet and getting your news from Doom Wad Station. Mucho appreciado!

See you next week, same Doom time, Same Doom channel. If you have news - a wad, a new site, a youtube video you want to share, just email me and we'll get it into TWID.