I was recently reminded of Mr. Chris's E2 (Stoned, Iconic, Abyssus, Centrum, Maledictio, Tormentum) and wondered what had happened with it. It doesn't seem to have been finished although I did find an E2M8 and a couple of others...
Cyberdance (aka e2boss01.wad) is an E2M8 replacement. Whether or not it is part of Mr. Chris's E2 is not known. The text file doesn't mention it's part of the series, anyway. It is billed as being more challenging than the original.
- it is smaller and more detailed,
- there are more monsters, of all kinds, running about,
- the demon face pillars have monsters on top of them, and the central building has monsters in cages on the sides, and
- you can run freely in and out of the central building.
I don't agree that it's harder than the original. For one thing, the central building in which you start is completely safe due to monster blocking lines. Evidently the author intends that you step out and run around in the open courtyard outside (and so do I, hiding in the middle is boring!) Also, this version gives you chaingun and shotgun as well as rocket launcher, and full ammo for all. The original gives you slightly more health, though, and of course, there are only lost souls to which to pay attention.
This map was fun and would probably be good for doing demos. Don't forget if you want 100% kills you have to deal with everything else first as the level ends when the cyberdemon dies (although this is unlikely to happen by accident)
The second of Mr. Chris's maps is a small Doom2 techbase-style map that is completely unsurprising if you are familiar with the author's previous work. A progression of small areas, each one subdivided by lots of partition walls with windows in them, and various computer wall panels and consoles, each area more or less disjoint from the rest.
Monster resistance is numerous but fairly light, with a few larger monsters in the crowd of zombies, imps, and demons. There are a small number of secrets, which are either obvious if you're familiar with the author's style, or hidden behind unmarked walls or in unlikely places.
There is a monster teleporter trap at the end of the map that could use some work. It goes off when you pick up the last two keys (which are both together - why bother with two?) It takes too long to go off and one of its exit points requires taking a detour away from your route back to the map exit. It is quite illogical. Although, there is a teleporter next to the keys. If you were forced to use that, the trap would make sense, but you are not. Come to think of it there is another (hidden) teleporter behind a switch just before the exit area, which is also inexplicable. Maybe he just makes it up as he goes along, I don't know.
Not great but enjoyable enough for a run or two.
The third, Edgy, is like a larger version of Uncertain Doom, obviously the author's signature architectural style but in the "hell castle" theme (green stone, wood etc.) It replaces Doom2 MAP20 for some reason.
This map has well over 700 monsters, most of which exist in several large teleporter traps that go off at various points. You could guess most of them but one is completely inexplicable, being triggered by walking towards two switches in the library in the easternmost area of the map, but teleporting most of its monsters not around the player but into areas on the way back to the start. The others were more predictably placed (think keys, and I was not surprised when I walked onto the first chapel's pulpit - yes there are two chapels, isn't one enough? - and the monsters started teleporting in)
Despite the monster count, the map isn't all that hard, but it is quite top-heavy. The most obvious case is that once you have the blue key and are through the door into the second half of the map, you can always retreat back into the now-empty part 1, and the monsters won't come down the steep stairs up to the blue door so you can just go shoot rockets at the crowds as they teleport. This kind of trivialises much of the second half of the map. Earlier on, especially in working your way to the aforementioned library, you're fairly up against it and must keep a close eye on your health.
The secrets are better this time, only one doesn't have any sort of clue to its existence. I recall one small bug, probably more due to the vagaries of Doom's thing clipping than anything else, but in the courtyard with the exit sign at the west end of the map, you can force your way behind the blood fountain and for some reason I couldn't get back out again.
In summary, a decent and playable map, with a few questionable parts. But perhaps a few bits of unconventionality and curious design decisions are a good thing - at the very least they give you something to wonder about...
A replacement episode 1 for Doom. Nicely done.
Map layouts are all right. There are some good individual areas but the larger, later maps end up with a bit too much of the all-too-common disjoint rooms-and-halls syndrome.
Texturing is fine. I didn't really notice any particularly bad misalignments, or anything. In fact all I can really remember of bad texturing was in E1M5 where the poison signs around the big slime pit at the start are repeated too much, too close together.
It has some common themes. It likes monsters in cages on the walls, and spectres in deep slime pits (somewhat unfortunately in the latter case, as they can be hard to shoot.) It doesn't stick completely to E1 stuff. It uses a fair few E2 base textures, and there are berserk boxes, although no plasma weapons. (There is a rocket launcher, but emphasis on singular. See below.) It is also rather full of fast doors. These didn't exist in Doom until Doom 2 came out. However, I'm not sure if I'm noticing them so much only because the /newstuff reviewer happened to mention them.
There are a few little bugs here and there. One door on E1M3 doesn't open because it uses switch-type linedefs instead of manual ones (the usual fake manuals ZDoomism.) Another door in E1M7 has on one side a repeatable walk trigger to open it - I think it's meant to be a switch trigger(!) Fortunately the door starts off open, but closes after you go through it and you can't re-open it. It doesn't break the level though.
Difficulty is low. I did 100% runs of most maps easily from a pistol start on the first attempt. This is not unwelcome in this modern age of maps that seem to be, not just hard, but obnoxiously mean-spirited and as annoying as possible.
The text file notes "Each level is doable from a pistol start although it is recommended that you play it through as a whole episode". This is no idle remark. As I mentioned, the maps are easily doable from a pistol start. But the only way you're going to get the rocket launcher is by doing the whole thing and visiting the secret level. This is obviously deliberate and I found it quite a nice touch.
In summary this is a decent, old school (old school enough that it even has a story line in the text file!) E1 replacement. It won't set the world on fire but it's certainly fun enough to play and replay a few times.
The theme was simply "metal", which gives a lot of leeway. It was followed to varying extents, from maps entirely made of the stuff, through others that were half metal half brick, to the last one which was just kind of random.
Difficulty: almost all the maps are difficult. Most are small, not greatly populated but with a very high monster density, map06 probably being the most obvious example. There were a couple of larger slaughters, e.g. map12.
Wish it had more weapons. Got bored of using the pistol so much. The first archvile was too much for where it was placed.
Not bad. Quite messy but I liked that. Too many crushing ceilings, though. Impossible to avoid.
A large map; a sequence of disjoint confrontations; a bunch of monster teleporters that go off far too slowly; and an interesting bug whereby somehow monsters can walk out of their holding areas into void space. I think it's due to silent line teleporters, another Boom feature that breaks far too easily.
Quite a nice inclusive layout but it was too tough. Need more and bigger weapons earlier to deal with the monsters it throws at you. I could have probably dealt with the archviles or the revenants but both at once was too much.
This one was really nice, a simple layout that crosses over itself and back to the start, wide corridors and high ceilings and enough resistance to be fun but not overwhelming.
Ouch, monsters everywhere, can't move for them, no ammo...
Lots of brick, and more high ceilings. I like maps with a feeling of space to them. Was a bit strung out, somehow. You run around the whole map twice and it's kind of empty. But it wasn't too difficult. I could have done without those pain elementals at the start, though.
This map is more or less one corridor stuffed with monsters and weapons. I managed about half of it before the four archviles teleported in, and there were two cyberdemons in the exit room. It was a bit much for me.
Two rooms, vaguely similar in that they both want you to go up a big wide staircase. Lots of traps and ambushes. Shame about what was behind the red door, it seemed like maybe the author ran out of time there. Or maybe it was to lull you into a false sense of security for the next trap. Also this is a good example of a map where a forced weapon change can be annoying (I won't spoil it, you'll know when it happens)
Three rooms plus the start area. Each one is not bad but they're completely disjoint. Monster resistance is quite strong in several places.
This is one of those maps where you start in a cage and have to shoot a button to get out, which wakes up a horde which starts teleporting in. Two problems. Firstly, some of the teleporters don't work. Second, I had no idea how to open the exit. It's not obvious at all that you're meant to push on one of the three demon-face boxes.
A slaughter map. You basically fight a bunch of monsters and press a button that opens up a new area. Repeat several times. It plays quite well, especially once you've opened up more of the map and have enough room to start playing tactically. I really liked this one but that might just be because I fluked a 100% run of it.
This one is spacious and has a really nice inclusive layout that manages to avoid disjointness almost entirely, so in that sense I really liked it, but the gameplay was too tight and I kept dying stupidly. I guess I could have done with more ammo or something. Note, the BFG does not need a archvile jump to reach it. I thought it did and wasted a lot of time trying. (You would get it a lot earlier though.)
The final map is somewhat off-theme and very retro - it even has a thin ledge-walk to a super shotgun, it's that oldschool. It's not without its charms, being very open and high-ceilinged, and has some good battles. Unfortunate that the lift behind the red door only works once, though. Can easily render the level unbeatable, especially since the first time you call the lift it'll almost certainly have a bunch of revenants on it.
In summary, I guess you can't expect too much from speedmaps but many of these were good.
(Of course since the thing was made over 5 days in a dwforums thread instead of strictly over a couple of hours in some irc channel you can't know how many of the maps are actually proper speedmaps, but having said that I didn't bother to read the thread and find out the minutiae of how the project was made)
