Doom II The Way id Did. You already know what this is. You know whether or not you’ll enjoy it. What are you doing still reading this? Doom II The Way id Did is exactly what you expect, even if you haven’t had the pleasure of playing Doom The Way id Did, or the number of WADs that followed on in that vein for years. It’s a collection of 33 maps by various authors in the community, all doing their best impressions of John Romero, American McGee, and Sandy Petersen (plus maybe a tiny bit of Shawn Green and Tom
Category: Modding
Special Report: One-Map WADstravaganza!
By now you’ve probably noticed that I lean more toward bigger WADs and megaWADs to talk about in this column. As a result, I have a growing list of one-map WADs I’ve either enjoyed or been meaning to play that has just been getting longer and longer for years now… You know what the means! That’s right — it’s time for another special episode! Welcome to the One-Map WADstravaganza: eight single-level releases from the last five years or so. Let’s jump right to it, before I get wrapped up in some long, masturbatory introduction! Presented in alphabetical order: Big Woodchip
OCD-Doom
I adore Peter Hawes’ OCD-Doom… even if the WAD has jack shit to do with OCD. It’s a hard WAD to recommend, though. Its gimmicky focus means OCD-Doom has ended up with a relatively unflattering 2.5 stars on the /idgames Archive — and comments describing it as both “innovative” and “enjoyable” (5 stars)… and as “nauseating tripe” (0 stars). Hoo boy. You could say I’m something of a gimmick map aficionado, so OCD-Doom has got that going for it in my book. I also love me a black sheep, so I might be biased. But this WAD is just a heck of a good time,
Counterattack
Mechadon is known mostly for his contributions to community projects and multi-author megaWADs — projects in which he consistently steals the show. He’s also made more than his fair share of one-off maps, DM mapsets, co-op sets… What we’ve never seen from him is a solo, singleplayer mapset. Until now, that is. And it was well worth the wait. Mechadon’s style cannot be mistaken: beautifully crafted architecture on a grand scale, meticulously detailed all the way from a tiny light fixture up to the vaulted archways of a nightmarish mega-cathedral large enough to fit every single denizen of Hell. His
Scythe II
Scythe II and I have a complicated relationship. I was a massive fan of Scythe years before the sequel was a thought in my head, so when II was released, I jumped on it like a rabid wombat. In the beginning, I was blinded by love for Erik Alm and the Scythe name. As the initial high faded, I found myself a tad disappointed. It wasn’t quite there for me — not quite what Scythe had been. And back in those days, I had an strange preference for tech maps, of which there were only five or so buried in
l͜i̸lith.͞p̶k3̛
sͣ̔̆̂̽҉͏̖̭̝͍̥͔̗̙́͢oͮ͌̃̍̿̆̋͐̾̐̿̅̔͋͗͏̴̖̠̥͖͓̪͚̰ͅm̳̻͙̣̫̠ͭ̀ͣ̓ͥ͛ͥͩ̐̉̐̑̎̊̔́̕͜ȅ̸̡̪͎̮̗̃̔̂͊̔ͫ̽t̶̳͙̼͓̖͛̉ͤͤ͒̓̇̇ͥ́́͜͝h̶̵̛̪͙̣͉̻̺̰̘͈͇̦̲̯̐̓̄͐ͅȉ̸̠̹̮̙̱͔͚̞̜̫̄ͤ̍̉͜n̵̻̬̯̬̩͈̘̯̱͓̋̂ͮ͋͑̓ͦͥͮͫ͛̀͌̂͆͛̐ͤͯ͟͟ͅg̜̳̳͉̜̩̗͖̼̠̩̥̙͉͚͔̹͚̽ͭ͌́͐͛ͫͭ̍̑ͪ̇͌̈̊ͮ̌͘͜͢ ̵̡̞̤̣̞̻̗͈̱͓͙͕̲̘ͪ̾̓̄̀ͬ̓̇̉͂ͭ͘i̞̘̳̠̪͕͕̯̺͉͎̤͚̻̾ͦ̓̅̌̈́̀͡s̷̲̤̟͇̝̩̜͈̯̱̩͎̹̪̠̩̺̮̐̉ͤ̊̍͐͌ͤ̄̌ͬ͡͠ ̴̷̡͍̬̹̥̫̗͚̩̣͕͉̤̥̖̝͚̺͋ͮ́̔́͞w̴̴͈̫̣͕̯̻͙̯̻̖͍̬͔ͤ̆̓̐̂̉ͧ̽̌́͘ͅṙ̪̣̰̥̠͓̰̻̫̿̆͗́̑́̕ͅo̡̘̥̦͍͚̖͉͇̗͚̭̜͙͙͗̒̎̅̓͒͋̊ͭ̾ͥ̐͋ͪͥͭͤ̀͘͝n̷̵̺̲̭̖̥̦̓̽͋̆͗ͧ̐̓͡ͅg̛̯̬̣͈̖̥̲͖͉̞̹̻̫̠̩̓ͨ̿͋͗ͮͭ̑̈́̉̄̂́ͅ _̝̻̳͙̰̠̹̝͈͎̬̼̙͉̖͎̮ͣͣ̃ͧ̓̎̂̌͘͜͠͡ líli͏th̀.pk͘3͡ r̷eq̶u͝i̛r̕es ̴D̀OOM2.W̢AD a͏n̡d ̷ ̀ ̨ ZD̢o͝om̧ ͟2.8.1. I͏f̨ y̴ou’re not͞ ̸s̴ur̨e /̧/͝ ͟hów ̛.̶.͟.̛ …̕ ͘t̡h̨i̧s̴ ̵m͝ay̛ ̴help.͟ Fóŗ ̡more ̸W̨A͡Ḍ̟̠̹͉ ̯s̡̭̣͙̱,͜ ;̀;̨;̧;̨̀͞;̸͜͏͢;̶͟͞;̶͡;̷̴͠;̶̛;̴̡́͝͠;̀͏;̸̡;̡̢̢;̸̛;̧͘;̶̡͢;̴̕;͠҉̀͘;͢;̵̷;̢͢͠;̧́̕͢;̨҉̶͜;̀͟;̸̷̨;̶̢͟;̵̨̛͜҉;̀̕;̶̨̛͢;̡͢ ̶cli̸ck͢ th̸is.
Operation Eisenfaust: Legacy
I admit I don’t love Wolfenstein 3D the way I love Doom. There are a few Wolf3D mods that I’ve given a look, and none of them seemed like much more than map packs: a bunch of new levels, maybe a new weapon and enemy or two. And I just don’t feel Wolf3D is modular enough for a simple map pack to be something to get excited about. At least not the way I get excited over some Doom WADs, even those that add literally nothing but a few maps. Sorry to all Wolfheads reading this. But a year or so ago,
Mano Laikas: A road to Gamzatti
Nicolás Monti is an artist. Maybe the Picasso of Doom mapping. I’ve made a point of playing all his recent releases as they come. That includes my 2014 WAD Of The Year, Apostasy on Amalthea; one of my favorite WADs of 2015, Desecration on Thebe; and his most recent and expansive work, 2016’s Mano Laikas: A road to Gamzatti. Rounding out that roster is Erkattäññe, in my opinion Monti’s weakest WAD and yet the only one to win him a Cacoward. Erkattäññe didn’t work for me in large part because it was a Doom II WAD. Doom II’s textures just didn’t jive
Breach
Breach is beautiful. “Intricate” or “detailed” would also be accurate descriptors, though you’ve often gotta steer clear of those words in Doom circles. I think both terms are starting to transition out of bad word status — in part thanks to creators like Viggles and projects like Breach — but in the past they were too often associated with maps that either include so much detail that the architecture interferes with player movement, or that focus on detail as a substitute for any kind of stimulating gameplay. And trust me, I wouldn’t be talking about Breach if either were the
Doom the Way id Did – The Lost Episodes
If you’ve played Doom the Way id Did, its Lost Episodes are essentially more of the that. A little less id-like, maybe, but with a wider quality spectrum. Doom the Way id Did: The Lost Episodes, to put it indelicately, is six episodes of leftovers and cut maps that didn’t make it into the official DTWiD release. What you have to keep in mind when saying these maps were “cut,” though, is why they would have been cut. The strict rules of DTWiD mean that submitted maps could easily be — and often were — rejected not for being of low