Overhyped and surprise releases

Many Wolf3D and/or Spear of Destiny releases come with average hype, probably a single thread on DHW, and a news mention when they are done. But every once in a while, either the hype goes crazy and the final product sadly doesn't deliver, or a superb game is just suddenly released following no prior signs of it even being in development.

This thread is to discuss what you, over the years, have found to have either too much hype for what they turned out to be, or to make mention of great games that were released with little or no awareness they were in progress.

For me -
Overhyped: I haven't been paying that much attention to hype on everything for that long, so I'm not sure I could come up with anything for this category. In my opinion, some of the biggest projects like Orb or Spear EOD were just fantastic enough to deliver on all expectations. The only potetially overhyped mod I can think of is one that I'd prefer not to mention...

Surprises: Deadly Sleep comes to mind absolutely immediately in this category. Also I never saw any prior knowledge that ack was working on the second Acktung set, so Acktung 2: The Last Waltz easily fits the bill as well. Also I think Chrono - SOD Maps might also apply for this category. Those are probably just the few that pop in my mind first.

When I first joined the Wolf community in late 2004, everybody was extremely into this thing called "End of Destiny", which I personally knew almost nothing about. I thought it was overhyped then; but the game itself... It was quite extraordinary for then. A real gem. I haven't played it since, though, but that's only because of the SDL-revolution.

I think SonderKommando was way too overhyped in its early days, to be honest, and considering it's at a halt now I don't know what to think of it. But I guess that one came unnoticed.

I think there are tons of under-hyped mods out there - but this is me. Back in the days when excellent mods such as "Project Weltuntergang" and "Chemical Warfare" came out, everyone made a mod almost every week or month. But I think those particular two never got the full attention they deserved. "Operation Hidden Secret", a map set/new EXE-thing by Santeri Kiiski, his thus far only venture into Wolf which I think is a pity, also died on the wire. But if you want to hype people these days... Man... It'll take I don't know how much.

You're mentioning pure map sets, WolfForever. Not that many people are so into those; and especially not in these days of Wolfenstein. But is that a good or a bad thing? That's another question.

For me it was always WSJ's mods that were underhyped. He usually never even announced that he was working on something and then all of a sudden a new mod would appear on the Dome, and usually to a fantastic level with exciting new features and ideas.

Definitely agree with you there Dean. I believe Mario Maniac and Mega Luigi's later mods are also underhyped. They are definitely challenging to play. They also surprise us by not telling us about what they may be working on.

I think the reason why the Mega Bros. sets are underhyped is because they're basically rip-offs; but the EXE's seem to work out okay. Also, bear in mind, that these two (if there is two, who knows it may be just one) people have been very difficult to understand and communicate with in the world of Wolf. I can mention many things, but I'll probably violate some non-existent cyber law. It's crazy. Not dissing the mods though. OK stuff.

Thomas, Mario Maniac and Mega Luigi (yes they're brothers) have definitely improved significantly in their cyber-communication skills over the years as I have been keeping touch with them consistently since last year.

Anyway, their earliest mods are rip-offs based off of Project Eisenritter (they were rookies at the time), but not ones like Weltgericht, and The Lost Relic. Both have their own environments though I like Weltgericht's environment better.

WolferCooker wrote:Definitely agree with you there Dean. I believe Mario Maniac and Mega Luigi's later mods are also underhyped. They are definitely challenging to play. They also surprise us by not telling us about what they may be working on.

Heh. If people decide to finish the game due to difficulty. I'm pretty sure many people tried The Lost Relic, but never finished to see the last level. Was epic, it was.

Good mapsets are always worth seeing and downloading. Even if I don't play it all, I'll examine every level in the editor.

Overhyped: End of Destiny and Sonderkommando Revolt.

Underhyped: Everything by WLHack. Like WSJ, that guy is a master in about every aspect of modding. Whether it comes to mapping, graphics, sounds, music or coding.. awesome in all aspects.

Such a shame he seems to have disappeared

giftmacher wrote:Overhyped: End of Destiny and Sonderkommando Revolt.

Underhyped: Everything by WLHack. Like WSJ, that guy is a master in about every aspect of modding. Whether it comes to mapping, graphics, sounds, music or coding.. awesome in all aspects.

Such a shame he seems to have disappeared

RonWolf found that WLHack is still making games, just that he's working on different games (non-Wolf 3d) at this time. Fingers crossed by everyone that he returns and finishes some of those mods he was working on!