this week in doom - August 30, 2016 (doom date 22.8300)

If this is your first time visiting this weekly chronicle, welcome. If not - I hope you like (and enjoy) some of the changes I've made to the page to make it easier to find the content you're looking for as well as the aesthetic changes to make the page more palatable. There have been changes to the look and feel, navigation, etc.... If you have any feedback on it or would like to suggest any further changes - you can use the email ink above.

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!

The Doom Wad Station forums are now up and running! It's been a long time since I had forums and I put some work into setting these up. Please take the time to visit them and create an account. Get all your burning questions answered or just pimp your work. :-)

Something that will never cease to amaze me is how much can be done in Doom. The possibilities seem limitless, especially given all of the advancements made by the authors of source ports such as (G)zDoom, Zand, Eternity, Risen, and Doomsday. From slopes and 3D floors to 3D models and hi-res textures; scripting and modding to dynamic lighting and sound. Even portals are becoming a thing in Doom. Between all of these milestones is an array of possibilties so endless only our imagination blocks the way. It's a great time to be part of the community!

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Exclusive Sneak Peak:
"Shadows from the Nightmare Realm"

Many frequents of DoomWorld know Alexa "yukib1t" Jones-Gonzales; around since 2002 and DDR's to put food on the table. Earlier this year, she released a wad for GzDoom titled "Extreme Terror" that was absolutely astonishing in terms of aesthetics. The gameplay was a nice, easy romp, which was nice because at the time all I could think about was the level around me. But don't take my word for it, head over to /idgames and check out the ratings; 4 1/2 stars out of 5 after 20 votes speaks volumes of the wad's quality. Check it out here:

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But "Extreme Terror" is not what the focus is this week, for yukib1t hasn't been sitting idly by the last few months. Through some stroke of luck and a good service in return later, I was able to get my hands on her newest creation... and it's a good one.

First up is a two-fer in the "Untitled WIP Series," found here:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/88503-untitled-wip-series-2nd-map-released/

"Shadows from the Nightmare Realm" is set to be a 3-map mini-episode with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere, story, and exploration that will run in GzDoom under the Doom 2 iWad. The great thing about yukib1t is that she makes great use of GzDoom's features to the point where you could not envision the map under any less-advanced port. It takes a lot of skill and dedication to produce work of this caliber and unfortunately I can only show so much from these screenshots. But know that there is so much more.

Up to my testing, only the intro map and MAP01 are done, but the last two are in-progress; no word on a release date yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it were near the end of this year.

This wad is rich with both awesome atmosphere and an interesting story with some twists and turns in the style of Lovecraft. To paraphrase its author:
Following Hell's defeat at the hands of the Doomguy, some Elder Gods decide to step in and finish the job, so to speak. While the Doomguy is asleep, the Elder Gods strike at him in his sleep gangnam styl-- I mean, Freddy Krueger style. Each level is set to be a separate dream of the Doomguy's, with each getting more surreal and creepy.
Most of this is also established by a short dialogue in the beginning.

One of the many cool, little features of this wad was the care put into its beginning; its own prequel, if you would. Upon hitting "New Game," you are not prompted with anything else, instead you are thrown straight into the opening dialogue. The dialogue is really well done, being text with sound effects and music to accompany it, all of which are perfectly timed and creepy as Hell (with a great revisioning of an old classic tune). Truth be told, when the game let me take control I continued to stare at the screen for a few moments, mixed between my unsureness of whether-or-not more was going to happen, my amazement at the opening POV, and the general creepiness of the whole thing. Upon gaining control, the architecture of the room is grand and imposing, while also finely detailed and interesting from any angle. That was one good quality about this wad, things looked good from all angles. The texturing, slight fog, and placement of ominous signs such as skulls/skull-candles, demon faces and Hell symbols really set things off. To top it off, upon turning around, one of the demon face wall textures has glowing, red eyes. Perhaps they don't have Clear Eyes in the dream world or perhaps that demon face was really watching us; we may never know, but one thing's for sure: the effect was neat.

Moving forward brings the player to a hallway with 3 options. Through each door is a teleporter that will bring you first to a really trippy dream-area, then to the first map. The difference between each door's path is the difficulty level it represents. This was another of the really cool, little things about this wad; you don't see this type of setup often. To me the effort put into solely the prologue shows an incredible level of determination and care.

Moving on to the first map, once again there was care and effort put into the opening atmosphere. Starting with nothing, the player finds a nearby pistol and continues on. Upon reaching a dead-end, the player turns around to find that the area has changed. After that the action begins. Though the map doesn't pull any more tricks quite like this, I thought it was a really sweet, short way to establish the atmosphere for the map itself and to reinforce what started in the intro.

The gameplay of this wad so far appeals mostly to the "exploratory" -style, with few traps and high-pressure scenarios. The player winds up revisiting a couple spots in the map, but it's always fairly obvious where to go, in addition to a couple spots being repopulated. Yukib1t has also added in a small handful of custom monsters to the mix, which I like so far.

All-in-all this wad is a thing of beauty and I'm fairly excited for news on this thing's progress. Keep it up, yukib1t; this one is definitely something to keep an eye out for!

NEWS from the /IDGAMES ARCHIVES

A gnarly 9 wads were uploaded to the archives this week!

Our first wad of the week is a Heretic (yay!) wad called "Emerald Bathhouse" by MorbidBrute and can be found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/heretic/d-f/emerbath.zip

This Heretic map also runs in Vanilla; sweet!

This was a very fun level to play through. With a bit under 150 monsters, this map was a nice length. Nothing was too terribly difficult, but there was a good use of monster variety in the map. Some areas tended to feel a bit flat and cramped, granted; not everyone will like that, but it was well-done here. One fight in particular I liked was a couple barons and some hitscanners came out. The barons had me surrounded, so naturally I fled (forward). Upon fleeing, I encountered an HK, then chaingunners as the barons caught up, then finally more chaingunners while the barons took pot shots at me and attempted to corner me. It was fun! Great job with this Paolo! Give that download button a click!

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Second is "Tapperoo" by Overstory_Lover_63; found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/s-u/tapps.zip

This wad runs in Limit-Removing formats (-complevel 2) (tested only with zDoom) under the Doom 2 iWad.

This map looked and felt much like a "first map," complete with little-effort furniture reminescent of the early 90's wads. Keep at it though, man :)===================================

After that is the next installment to a fun, popular series, "NH5" from TimeOfDeath can be found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/nh5.zip

This 3-map wad runs in Limit-Removing formats (-complevel 2)

under the Doom 2 iWad.
Being from TOD, you know right away that these levels are tough slaughterfests that play really well. Being in the NHx series, you know it's got no health pickups. That means that every mistake matters as you pave you way through these maps with blood measuring in the cubic decameters. All three maps are tough, but a lot of fun and I highly recommend this series to all Doomers who are fans of challenging wads. Get on over to /idgames and check this one out right away!

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Fourth on our list this week is "Secretdoom: Disrepair 2" by Cyberdemon531, which can be found here:

http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/d-f/disrpar2.zip

Run this 11-map set in zDoom on up with the Doom 2 iWad.

These very spacious maps have some really cool monster setups, in addition to well-used custom monsters. Perhaps my favorite enemy, the "AAAAA" suicide bomber, makes an appearance, including being the only monster present in the 11th and final map of the set, the aptly titled "AAAAAAAAAAA." I loved every map out of this set and you will, too. Being from a well-known speedrunner, these things are fun to play. Give 'em a shot today!
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Next up is "Noirlab" from ChekaAgent. Find it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/m-o/noirlab.zip

This map runs in PrBoom+ under the Doom 2 iWad.

This map was okay, if a bit bland-looking. The Noir pack needed is a fairly cool texture set, so it's always nice to see it get some use. My suggestion to the author would be to provide addional contrast and color to the areas to make them a bit less bland. A few more lines here and there wouldn't hurt, either. Still, keep at it :)

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Sixth is "Alpha Accident: Terra Nova" by Wraith777 and can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom/Ports/a-c/aa_e1.zip

This interesting 9-map wad technically is Limit-Removing and runs under the Ultimate Doom iWad, but it also comes packaged with its own .exe file which increases the static limits, so in a way it's as the author describes, "quasi-vanilla."

This map set features many large, sprawling level layouts that are sure to keep you busy for a while. I really liked the way that this quasi-vanilla map set looked and played. There were a couple custom monsters in here as well that I thought were well-used and some nice Doom 1 setups. Give this one a shot.

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Following that is a wad called "Vanished Colony" by Abe87. Find it here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/v-z/vanished.zip

This 10-map set runs in GzDoom with the Doom 2 iWad.

While the map set itself was fairly bland and left me with the ol' "... should've been made for ..." feeling, the skies used in this wad were phenomenal. I hate to say it because it doesn't speak highly of the maps themselves, but hands down, my favorite part about this wad was the skies. I may have to rip them and use them myself later on. Bland-ness aside, the maps weren't too bad and hey, if it's your thing it might be worth a check.

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Eighth is "Trap" by CokeTheAyyLmao, which can be found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/s-u/trapmap.zip

This map runs in zDoom under the Doom 2 iWad.

I sense... Plutonia MAP01, kek. This map felt very reminescent of PLU01 in more than a few spots, but had the architecture, detailing, and layout of somebody newer to mapping. Still, couple fun setups. Give it a try.

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Last this week is "Hell Returns for Last Time" from CaptainManiac; found here: http://www.doomwadstation.net/idgames/doom2/Ports/g-i/hrflt.zip

Run this 6-map set in GzDoom with the Doom 2 iWad.

These maps were bland and felt like first maps, but there was some decent effort at scripting, which was cool. Keep on trying man.
Great job everybody on the 9 new submissions!

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Speedrunning news and videos

DoomWorld member Voltcom9 has released a collection of speedmaps for WolfenDoom which runs in GzDoom.

I had the chance to play a decent number of these before, but when I saw the thread pop up I was happy to see some new additions! Apparently Voltcom9 plans on making a secret level for each regular level, creating 2 "routes" the player can take to get through the overall wad. Two of these secret maps have been completed and I think they are pretty cool! One other thing I was happy to see was the changes made to existing maps. I really like the look and feel of this wad.

There were a few things I noticed about this wad this time around. One, no Doom weapons remain. Two, new enemies have been added. Three, a new super-pistol has been added, as well as a flamethrower. Four, not only does the "Explosivesex" remain, all explosions are bigger, much bigger. All of these changes I really liked. The first two for the immersion of Wolf over Doom and the second two for obvious reasons. This 14-map wad is short and sweet, plus a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.

Head on over to its DoomWorld thread and give it a look: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/90433-gzdoom-wolfendoom-amateur-speedmap-collection/

DoomWorld member Rayzik has been adding some demos recently to the "No Sleep for the Dead" section in DoomWorld's Doom Speed Demos board. Rayzik is a well-established mapper and runner who makes some great demos/videos. His YouTube channel is one of the few channels I have subscribed to, including things not Doom-related, heh. "No Sleep for the Dead" is a somewhat recenet Episode 1 + E2M1 map set for the Ultimate Doom wad which runs in Vanilla and was created by Jan Van der Veken. It's a fantastic Doom 1 pWad worth playing, but watching Ray play it is almost as good (and more portable, hehe). Great job on the demos to everyone who posted some in that thread! Keep 'em coming!

Check out the thread here:
https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-speed-demos/89693-no-sleep-for-the-dead-complevel-3/

And Rayzik's YouTube Channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQYckZWrNmAJv-cufwyUDoQ

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NEWS from around the Web

DoomWorld members DMPhobos and Z0k have released a new update to "Darkmoon" which looks fantastic! "Darkmoon" is a GzDoom mod that runs in Doom 2, which is Doom 3 themed (minus my favorite flashlight mechanic, lol). Making something this intricate requires a lot of skill and dedication on the part of the mappers, which clearly shows in how beautiful these levels are.

These levels have been designed very intricately to resemble an off-world UAC base and I haven't seen many mappers which can do just that to this amazing level of detail; the architecture and detailing on these maps is truly something to behold. The one area that is slightly lacking from what I've seen so far is lighting and contrast. The most amazing levels of detail will never be noticed or appreciated when they all mono-chromatically blend together. It's a shame for stuff like this which does such a picture-perfect job of making a realistic-looking base, even actually including the element of height-variation that many mappers do not properly include when they make "realistic" architecture. Literally everything about the line-work that went into these maps are perfect, except that lighting and contrast which isn't quite up to the same standards as the rest of this. As much as I loved the work that went into every area, the most beautiful to me were the ones which made use of more colors.

Gameplay-wise this wad feels very much like the player is on a journey through a recently-invaded base, with monsters often populating areas long before the player ever reaches them. A few Doom 3 monsters make appearances, such as the trites and the teleporting demons, along with many other customs, often upgrades to the originals. Most monsters have an advanced AI which lets them perform special actions, such as dodging shots/unpredictable movement and lunging at the player. An inventory system is also present, complete with portable health kits, grenades, and an adrenalin injector, which buffs the players health and movement/fire speed. The weapons are all Doom 3-based and require reloading. All levels contain 2 exits which take the player to different levels, effectively creating multiple "routes" the player can take throughout the wad as a whole, which I think is really cool. Crouching and jumping are also used.

All-in-all this mod continues to be something which captures my attention and excites me for progress! Z0k and DMPhobos are both extremely talented mappers and their level of skill shows multitudes in this awesome WIP. I wish both mappers the best as they continue to flesh this thing out into the amazing piece of work it will surely be when complete.

Check this awesome mod out right now on its DoomWorld thread here: https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/85269-darkmoon-new-maps-added/

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Sergeant_Mark_IV has released a "Brutal Friends" Companion Mod, which runs independently of Brutal Doom. This thing sounds really cool and is a lot of fun to play with. There are currently 9 different companions that can be summoned. The main 7 are summoned via "teleport beacons" which replace blur spheres in maps and are operated through inventory commands, these 7 include: Doom Marine, Unturned Zombieman, Female Marine, Unturned Shotgunguy, Unturned Chaingunguy, Doom 3 Sentry Bot with dual plasma guns, and a German Shepherd. The remaining two are easter eggs which can only be summoned via the console and are Daisy, Doomguy's pet rabbit, and Hissy, a baby cacodemon.

This mod is really cool and definitely worth checking into! Look it up on its DoomWorld thread here:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/90473-brutal-friends-companion-mod/

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One Man Doom has two new reviews up!

First up is of a wad called "Sins of the Flesh" by zrrion the insect, which runs in GzDoom under the Doom 2 iWad. This very beautiful and atmospheric wad features some slow-paced gameplay which favors incidental combat. Read KMX's full review here: http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2016/08/sins-of-flesh-asotfpk3.html

Next is a review of an 11-map set called "Nex Credo" by Jayextee, which runs under the Doom 2 iWad in Vanilla. Jay has been around quite some time and has produced many sweet Vanilla map sets over the years; "Nex Credo" is a tough romp through some finely-tuned levels. Check out KMX's awesome review here: http://onemandoom.blogspot.com/2016/08/nex-credo-nexcredowad.html

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Doomsday Engine has a new blog up; "Adventures in Linux Land" is pretty much exactly as titled, heh. Read all about it here:

http://dengine.net/blog/2016/08/adventures-in-linux-land/

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During my recent hiatus, DoomWorld member Aqfaq started "The Great Tyson Thread of 2016" which I hope receives some sweet entries. The proposed maps sound like absolute Hell to attempt, but that dedication will pay off for someone. Good luck to any and all participants in this thread!

Check it out here:

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-speed-demos/89630-the-great-tyson-thread-of-2016/

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Doom 3/4 news

Doom Wad Station (yours truly) posted it's first Doom 4 map review, which you can find here. The map is called "Janitor vs. Zombies" and while not the best map I ever played, it's not bad and it's a good lead in to the 2nd map (the sequel) which I'll also be reviewing shortly. And since you have to play the first one to play the 2nd one, you might as well. :-)

Not really much going on with Doom 3 (pretty much the norm). If you have any news to add for either of these, be sure to email me.

In case you were wondering about System Requirements for Doom 4

Doom video game system requirements ( minimum )

OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400 or better / AMD FX-8320 or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2GB or better / AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB or better
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 22 GB available space
Additional Notes: Open GL 4.5. Latest Graphics Drivers.

Doom Reborn is still under development, so be sure to show your support to the fellas over there with a visit to their site every now and again to check on progress. If you haven't tried it out yet, it is 1:1 replica of Doom and Doom 2 in Doom 3's engine. Ah, Doom 3 as it was meant to be; hehe. Also keep in mind that the team is looking for good people to help set it free. Check out their site here: http://www.doomreborngame.com/

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.