.: May 14, 2012

The newest interview for my feature, Doomster Unveiled: Inside the BossBrain, is with Daniel 'Tormentor667' Gimmer, the author of many well-known projects, and Capitan of Realm667.

.: May 11, 2012

I've put up a new interview for my feature, Doomster Unveiled: Inside the BossBrain. This one is with wildweasel, resident ZDooM weapons modification guru, and all-around BossBrain on the ZDooM forums. Also, DBThanatos, the main author of the (in)famous Aeons of Death gameplay mod, has agreed to be interviewed. I've sent interview questions to Xaser, Stephen "The Ultimate Doomer" Clark, and Sergeant_Mark_IV, and I'm waiting for them to respond.

.: May 9, 2012

It's time to debut my new feature named Doomster Unveiled: Inside the BossBrain. You can read the edited version of my interview with Nigel 'Enjay' Rowand, here, or the uncut version here. I've completed interviews with Daniel 'Tormentor667' Gimmer, wildweasel, LilWhiteMouse, and James "Phobus" Cresswell, and I'll be posting them soon. Others who have agreed to be interviewed since my last update include Stephen "The Ultimate Doomer" Clark, Rachel "Eruanna" Alexanderson, and "Scuba Steve" Brown.

I have almost completed Map E3M2 of Infernos, my 9-map replacement for The Ultimate DooM. I'd previously completed Map E3M1 and most of Map E3M9. No progress to report for the updated Temple of the Ancients, nor on Paranoiac, the expansion pack for Paranoid.

.: April 24, 2012

The Paranoid expansion pack now has an official project name: Paranoiac and is greatly "expanded" as well - it is now a 7-map hub with two extra non-canon (secret) levels and a TITLEMAP. One of the new maps I started is a terrain-style map with valleys, a river and island, and cliffs. I keep promising screenshots, and I'll get around to it soon. I have also started a new project named Infernos, which is a 9-map replacement for The Ultimate DooM. I've completed Map E3M1 and most of Map E3M9. However, there's no progress to report for the updated Temple of the Ancients.

My last update indicated that I had written several reviews for DooM modifications. You can read those reviews here. I have also started a new feature named Doomster Unveiled: Inside the BossBrain, wherein numeraries in the DooM community are interviewed. I have started a list of interviewees, selecting them on their contributions to the community and their more-or-less unique positions within it. The interview questions will be customized to reflect the individual's contributions, abilities, and role in the community. So far, I have lined up Nigel 'Enjay' Rowand, Daniel 'Tormentor667' Gimmer, wildweasel, LilWhiteMouse, Xaser, and Sergeant_Mark_IV, who have all agreed to be interviewed. I've sent the customized questions to each of them and have heard back from wildweasel already. I'm preparing a web page for the feature; look out for it soon.

.: March 30, 2012

wildweasel has told me he's going to start work on the new weapons for the updated Temple of the Ancients. Meanwhile, I've done a heap of work on the Paranoid expansion pack. I've completed Map 10, and virually all of Maps 11 & 12. I was fired up by an idea to create a multi-storey parking garage, so I have made quite a bt of progress on a fourth map. The garage is built, complete with ramps to drive up to the upper levels. The garage is next to a 4-storey office building, which is also complete. [This building is basically a copy & paste of the 4-storey building in Map05 of Paranoid, but it now has a functional elevator that looks and works much like a real-world elevator - the entrance to the elevator from each floor is stacked, one above the other. Also, you can use a single switch/button to choose whether to ride the elevator up or down. Unfortunately, it does not have a numeric keypad with buttons for each floor, as I did not want to undertake the arduous programming for the script. I also have ideas for a sewer-themed map, and a terrain-type map; this would bring the map count up to six (not including the 2 secret maps, for which mapping is already done).

I rarely play DooM or any other game nowadays (or, indeed, even my own maps - except for testing), so it was a pleasant surprise when I played several recently-released wads. It started when I volunteered to review a small "weapons" mod for DooM World's /Newstuff Chronicles. I tested it out, wrote it up, and decided to go back for more. I was looking for wads with small file sizes, as I only wanted to digest bite-size chunks of DooM. I found three more wads that met this criterion, have played and reviewed two of them, and am in the middle of playing my third one. I'll post those reviews here after they have been published on DooM World.

.: February 21, 2012

I haven't heard from wildweasel on the new weapons for the updated Temple of the Ancients. But you can't keep a good bozo down, and I've spent quite some time on the Paranoid expansion pack. I've done most of Maps 10, and 12, and have made good progress on Map11. Pictures are forthcoming.

.: January 26, 2012

While wildweasel is busy at work on the new weapons and coming up with ideas for the mission/objectives, I have been updating Temple of the Ancients with GZDooM features. Did you know that when it was originally released in December 2000, ZDooM did not have the slope feature? This meant that all the arches were done with textures applied to lower-unpegged main textures on multiple linedefs. [For those of you that aren't familiar with DooM editing terminology, see the pictures below to see what I mean.] I have started replacing these "fake" arches with real ones, and the pictures below allow you to compare the before-and-after. I've also begun replacing "fake" 3D architecture (e.g., bridges) with true 3D constructs, and the old ZDooM deep water with GZDooM translucent water. Again, see below for the differences.

I have also made quite a bit of progress on my vanilla DooM2 map set. I've tentatively named it By The Pricking of My Thumbs ...., which Shakespeare/Macbeth aficionados will recognize as being part of the witches chant that is followed by "... something wicked this way comes". And, as some of you may know, the first map in my Wicked series of vanilla DooM2 maps was named Something Wicked This Way Comes. I've completed Maps 01 and 02, and 75% of Map 12.

.: January 6, 2012

A somewhat belated wish to both of you for a Happy New Year. I had a busy Christmas week, after which I promptly fell ill, and am only just recovering. There's very little to report on the DooM front. A few weeks ago I resumed work on the expansion pack for Paranoid, but progress was sporadic. And then, a couple of weeks ago I started work on an episode-length mod for vanilla DooM2, and have completed about half of one map. Meanwhile, wildweasel (who is well-known for his weapons mods other work), suggested a collaboration to update Temple of the Ancients, and we're discussing it. I've also promised kappes buur that I will play-test his WIP map, so I better get cracking on it.

Despite the shitfest that surrounded The Phobos Directive on the ZDooM forums, DIYGamer has seen fit to provide a balanced review of the game. They seemed to have pegged the intentions of the development team with comments like: "The end result is a large, non-linear and remarkably replayable campaign", and "The Phobos Directive still uses every trick in the book that the updated GZDoom engine offers". My sentiments, exactly.

In 2012 I've gone retro. A couple of days ago I finally installed Riven, which I had bought more than 10 years ago but never played. Riven is the sequel to the best-selling game Myst, which is a first-person puzzle-solving adventure. The premise and pacing is so very different from first-person shooters such as DooM, that the game is definitely not for everyone. It requires a lot of patience, keen observation, and some mental acuity. I figure it'll give me an appreciation for the challenges faced by developers of other types of game.

In another sign that I'm into the whole retro gig, I have installed and begun playing a 1994-era game (which was originally developed for the Mac) named Marathon. It is a DooMesque first-person shooter, but done more like a (G)ZDooM adventure, with a story-line, interactive environments, and extensive scripting. Just the sort of stuff I've been fascinated with and have been creating since I discovered the wonders of ZDooM. I'll play the game with an eye to writing a review, but I'm not promising anything.

.: Acknowledgements

I would be remiss if I did not thank my kind host Eruanna (formerly SoulPriestess) for the use of her web space. Please visit her site, which has more DooM-related stuff than you can shake a stick at. [Let me re-phrase for those English Grammar purists who cringe when a sentence ends in a preposition - Please visit her site, which has more DooM-related stuff than at which you can shake a stick. Heh.]

I'd also like to thank StevesTemplates for the web design you see before you. Feel free to visit that site to get ideas for your own web pages or to download a template or two.

.: News Archives

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