.: Assault on Tei Tenga
So at the beginning of DooM's storied past did you ever wonder why the doors at so many of the game's map-starts refused to open, no matter how many times you hit the space bar, shot at it, or hurled invectives most foul at it? Or did you ever wonder why you couldn't back-track to a previous map to scoop up that last bit of health that you so foolishly ignored during your testosterone-induced rampage to the exit? It was because DooM was not originally designed to allow free movement back and forth between "missions". And then ZDooM came along, and everything changed. [Well, actually, HeXen did that first - but we're talking DooM here.] ZDooM, taking a page from HeXen's illustrious chapter, allowed the creation of hubs.Simply put, a "hub" structure is a loose definition of the original "hub & spoke" structure. A hub & spoke design is one where there is a central map (the hub), and peripheral maps connected to the hub via spokes. [Very similar to a cart wheel, with the central hub being the point through which the entire structure connects.] A good example is the first Hexen mission. Subsequently, any collection of maps that allow players to return to maps already traversed (or allowed back-and-forth travel between maps) became known as hub-based wads. And the first recorded instance of a multi-map hub for ZDooM is Assault on Tei Tenga.
By today's standards (even for DooM mods), the opening "cut scene" with the space shuttle hurtling through space as your mission objectives are identified via text messages is somewhat cheesy. Add to that the music from the X-Files and you have a recipe for a ripe gouda. However, once you accept it as being campy (much like Adam West, who plays himself on the Family Guy) you start getting into it. The author weaves the many ZDooM features available at the time to create an adventure that is fueled by objectives.
The so-called "mission-driven" gameplay of Assault on Tei Tenga deviates from the standard key or switch hunt. To make progress you need to vent radiation from a critical area, align the main radio antenna to broadcast a signal, refuel an escape vehicle, and perform many other tasks. The game uses a variety of scripts to create a sense of doing real things in a real place.
One of ZDooM's features that the mod uses to good effect is silent teleports. In this case, the feature provides the illusion of room-over-room, which the original DooM/2 lack. This was not the first mod to use silent teleports to create such an illusion, but it has been used quite convincingly here. Another ZDooM feature that has been well-used is script-activated cameras that show the player what objective was accomplished by pressing a switch; this takes the guesswork out of the gameplay. The map design can then incorporate a switch far away from the object that the switch activates without fear that the player will be confused and/or frustrated trying to figure out what the switch did.
What did I not like about the game? Well, for one thing, after being pounded to a pulp by the minions of a minor deity who has delusions of grandeur in the UnderWorld, and having neglected to save the game, I found myself watching the space shuttle do its thing while listening to not-creepy-anymore X-Files music, and wishing there was a way to cut the scene out of the cut-scene. But I myself have been guilty of including cut scenes in ZDooM mods which the player is unable to skip. Moreover, back in the year 2000, it may not have been easy to allow skipping of such fripperies. And so, I bite my tongue and give Sam Ketner a free pass on this one.
There are a variety of minor annoyances and nitpicks throughout. For instance, in Orbital Deployment, the first map of the hub, it is possible to get stuck in the Aft Cargo Hold by jumping atop one of the nukage barrels, then on top of one of the crates, and then into the space behind. Once there, it is not possible to jump back on top of the crate or to squeeze between other crates to get out. There is a plethora of obvious texture mis-alignments, the messages and cut-scenes are mind-numbingly long, and underwater areas merely consist of blue-colored areas. But these issues cannot overshadow the achievements of this mod, nor obscure the fact that it broke new ground for ZDooM gaming.
It therefore gives me great satisfaction to award Assault on Tei Tenga the first Zpectre Award for ZDooM Excellence.
