WADapalooza! Check out the most recent What’s Awesome, Doom? reviews: lilith, Scythe II, Counterattack, OCD-Doom, and this eight-for-the-price-of-one megareview! Still not enough WAD news? Great! I’ve released a small tribute to the legendary 1997 WAD STRAIN for its 20th birthday. It’s called Return to Daro! Lastly, the Ascendancy LP continues, slowly but surely, with three episodes of the second run up. It’s sort of on the back burner right now, but I assure you I’ll finish it eventually. And, as always, I hope you check out my older stuff, either by category at the top of the page or by date over on the right.
Author: scwiba
Front Page (August 2017)
WADapalooza! Check out the most recent What’s Awesome, Doom? reviews: Scythe II, Counterattack, OCD-Doom, and this eight-for-the-price-of-one megareview! I also “reviewed” a “WAD” called “lilith.pk3.” I have no idea what’s going on. Please send help. Still not enough WAD news? Great! I’ve released a small tribute to the legendary 1997 WAD STRAIN for its 20th birthday. It’s called Return to Daro! And it’s not exactly Doom, but hey… there’s a Wolfenstein 3D mod that’s also awesome and I really wanted to talk about. Check out Operation Eisenfaust: Legacy on a Very Special Episode of What’s Awesome, Doom? Lastly, the Ascendancy LP continues, slowly but
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
Expand and Exterminate — Phase 3: Codename Suck Less
Broadcasting from CS Defiant, in the Icarus System Day 528 of the Second Swaparaman Space Age Everything is fine.
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,
Front Page (July 2017)
Lots of Doom news! For starters, I’ve released a small tribute to the legendary 1997 WAD STRAIN for its 20th birthday! It’s called Return to Daro! Version 1.2 of UnAligned has hit the /idgames Archive. I’ve fixed a few bugs that have annoyed me for months, and this should be the final, final, final release of the WAD — but it’s not the end of the UnAligned Cinematic Universe. Stay tuned for the sequel, coming this fall! Aaand June 30th was the one-year anniversary of my Doom WAD Absolutely Killed! The community seemed to like it well enough, and now’s as good a time as any