Dome awards - Were they deserved? + Applicable mapset/mod thoughts

First topic message reminder :

The Dome awards had gone on for a decade, starting in 2002, before being discontinued this year. However, while there were many, many projects that got a well-deserved award, I feel there were also, sometimes, awards given out to releases that overall didn't really deserve one.

Therefore, I thought I'd create a thread to discuss, focusing on one year at a time (from most to least recent), the deservability of releases which received awards that year. Thus the year of focus will start on 2011. There is no fixed amount of time in which the discussion will be on any particular year; it will be more determined by that when responses start dropping off for a particular year, I'll consider changing the focus to the previous year. So there is no need to cover a whole year at once since it'll pretty much be the centerpoint as long as participation suggests it should be. And it is okay to talk about a particular release from a different year if it happens to really be in your mind at a given time; the year of focus is just a guideline so we aren't all looking at hundreds of awards at once.

The talk can be as simple as "deserved" or "did not deserve" if you'd like, with maybe just a few quick thoughts on why, or you can feel free to make an explanation or even a mini-review of the release if you'd like. So there's no real minimum or maximum amount of detail for this. And there is no need to comment on every award (even if I do) - preferably mention the ones you've played at least but in the end, it's your choice.

All awards can be found here. So let the discussion begin! I'll always have the current year of focus at the very bottom of this post for convenience.

Current year of focus: 2001 mentionables - use the Dome news archive (July-December 2001)

Note: After 2002, this thread will turn into a highlight of what I feel were some of the mentionable releases (still by month) of the previous few years; the possible would-have-been awards in my view per se.

With only two years left, I have an idea for this thread prior to 2002.

I think that at least for the years in which Brian has archived his news, I will look through the feed and mention some of the stuff that came out at those times. What I would award personally above others of their time, per se. And the format of the listing wouldn't change much - simply mentionable sets by month.

In the meantime I'll probably get 2003 going soon and it'll just be an edit to this post.

We're getting to a timeperiod where I was still in elementary school, 3rd grade or such. Back when I played Wolf3d with more wonder than anything. Although, that mod... name escapes me right now, by Rowan, that had many levels, Schabbs and Hitler/PLE as the MLI cheats - I remember playing when I was still in Kindergarden.

ALL HAIL TOTENGRAEBER AND SCHABBS 2000 - IN THOU WE TRUST

Hi Zachary!

Why go thru all that hassle when you can just SUFFOCATE me with the SUB-STANDARD CHOKAGE GRAPHICS...

Hi Corey!

Seriously, you never dug Totengraeber? Come on, at least admit that from the coding aspects of 1999 it was pretty well done.

Totengraeber was great! save for the randomly jamming chaingun. That was about the only thing I ever hated about it.

Remember Chris is a magician...he doesn't like normal stuff!

The jamming chaingun in Totengraeber was both annoying at times but also a good touch, I think.

Anyways my last post it pretty far up now but I'm going to hit 2003 now:

Dec 2003: Dead World Rising - The prequel to DWR2 from 2004 and my thoughts are more or less the same.

Nov 2003: Halls of Stonehenge - Again my thoughts more or less match the HOS:SE from 2004. No this won't become a trend (just matching my thoughts with something else).

Oct 2003: Acktung!: I cannot recall if I've played this, even though I know I've played both volumes of Archives (from 2006) as Acktung 2 (from 2010). But I know it's commonly cited as a classic 60-level set for just plain good level designs, and I wouldn't doubt it. If I have played it, I liked it, because I'm certain I've never played anything from ack that I didn't like. If not, is this worth a go given I've already played its sequel?

Sept 2003: Remake - Some decent designs, but I always thought Ken O'Brien was too inconsistent. Some levels are chock filled with enemies while others hardly have any...some levels are long and complex while others short and very simple...etc...you get the point. Very inconsistent.

Aug 2003: Kristallnacht - All I remember is playing a little of this and I thought it was more or less average. But I didn't play all that far.

July 2003: Quest for the Amulet - Didn't play, but I think I might reconsider per Thomas' recommendation.

June 2003: TexZK's Story - I remember playing into the second episode, thinking it was an impressive effort, with a lot of potential, but I didn't like how I couldn't change the view size (minor nitpick, admittedly) but mainly the fact that there were far too many symmetrical designs. Also June 2003: Secrets of the Grauburg Dungeons - A Kuki set, that I haven't played, and probably should because he definitely does some good mapping, and it's in SDL now to boot!

May 2003: The Road to Despair - The one thing by Executor I'm not a big fan of. It's his weakest designs IMO, and it also uses Totengraeber as a base, with TBH hurts it IMO, since Totengraeber is such a timeless classic to so many people, me included. Also May 2003: Wolfenstein Resurrection - I'm not sure if I've played this in particular. However, I know that what I have played by Wes has had good ideas, but brought down by very so-so designs.

Apr 2003: Operation Heimzahlung - Some people regard this as WSJ's weakest effort I think, but personally I played it all and had a lot of fun with it. Has somewhat of an RTCW feel, which I liked. It's not as good as CotS but I thought it was quite solid anyways and enjoyed it fairly thoroughly.

Mar 2003: The Golden Episodes - Haven't played all of it (yet again), but what I've played, seen, etc. is all outstanding. A classic and very challenging set (though E5L1 kind of goes too far, but it's still just one level)! Ariel never disappoints, and IMO this is his magnum opus, at least in terms of work he was at least primarily the author of. I wish he didn't remove quicksave/quickload but I can handle it. Also Mar 2003: Den of Evil - I always compared DTrade to the Bucksnorts or Harry Sr. thus usually just average designs. Don't think I ever properly gave this a try, though.

Feb 2003: Project Eisenritter - This actually came out in 2002 and I will cover it with 2002. The awarding process fell a few months behind. The only thing I'll say for now is I'm probably one of the few who thing this is WSJ's worst set, but I'll give reasons later.

Overall, 2003 certainly has a lot of stuff I haven't played or at least throughly played compared to 2004. But there were some very good releases IMO, and some others that were at least good efforts, if not quite to my taste. I'd say TGE is best of the year, Acktung! and Op Heimzahlung very good as well (though I may be making an assumption in the case of Acktung!).

WolfForever wrote:Sept 2003: Remake - Some decent designs, but I always thought Ken O'Brien was too inconsistent. Some levels are chock filled with enemies while others hardly have any...some levels are long and complex while others short and very simple...etc...you get the point. Very inconsistent.

I liked some of the textures, and I was blown away the first time I played this. But yes, the mapping gets tedious and there is little-to-no consistency, as you said.

WolfForever wrote:Aug 2003: Kristallnacht - All I remember is playing a little of this and I thought it was more or less average. But I didn't play all that far.

Haha, I was really hooked on this back in the day. I never played The Final Solution v3.0, so this was my way of getting introduced to that one, as it uses its source. I liked it. Good fun, not a masterpiece.

WolfForever wrote:July 2003: Quest for the Amulet - Didn't play, but I think I might reconsider per Thomas' recommendation.

Won't hurt. Best desert-themed mod out there.

WolfForever wrote:June 2003: TexZK's Story - I remember playing into the second episode, thinking it was an impressive effort, with a lot of potential, but I didn't like how I couldn't change the view size (minor nitpick, admittedly) but mainly the fact that there were far too many symmetrical designs.

This also got me first, but only the 50-level version. Somehow the six-episode version never worked for me. I liked the new music and the outside features - this really drove me nuts. Sadly I never played too many of the maps. But A for effort, huh?

WolfForever wrote:Also June 2003: Secrets of the Grauburg Dungeons - A Kuki set, that I haven't played, and probably should because he definitely does some good mapping, and it's in SDL now to boot!

Yes, this is good, murky fun, but it always seemed like a demo version of something to me. Weltuntergang is his best by miles, but also his only full-scaled mod, so to speak.

WolfForever wrote:May 2003: The Road to Despair - The one thing by Executor I'm not a big fan of. It's his weakest designs IMO, and it also uses Totengraeber as a base, with TBH hurts it IMO, since Totengraeber is such a timeless classic to so many people, me included. Also May 2003: Wolfenstein Resurrection - I'm not sure if I've played this in particular. However, I know that what I have played by Wes has had good ideas, but brought down by very so-so designs.

TRTD was overblown and not very good, but I played it nevertheless and one thing I do dig is the RTCW chain gun. Wes Desjardins... Now, there's a guy who seemingly did a lot of modding, coding etc. and never went down in history well. I don't know why. Well, some of his stuff seems like it's just a rip-off of everything else released up to that period. It's still something I can't get out of mind, but that's because I played it in those early days. I remember getting stuck in Hell Beneath and just hating it thereafter. Haha...

WolfForever wrote:Apr 2003: Operation Heimzahlung - Some people regard this as WSJ's weakest effort I think, but personally I played it all and had a lot of fun with it. Has somewhat of an RTCW feel, which I liked. It's not as good as CotS but I thought it was quite solid anyways and enjoyed it fairly thoroughly.

This is something I've longed to play for a very long time. It's very 'complete' in the sense that it takes on its own universe, utilizing a lot of RTCW atmosphere, but still maintaining a typical WSJ flair. And, of course, this is where we see proof of something from the Lost Episodes becoming useful at last.

WolfForever wrote:Mar 2003: The Golden Episodes - Haven't played all of it (yet again), but what I've played, seen, etc. is all outstanding. A classic and very challenging set (though E5L1 kind of goes too far, but it's still just one level)! Ariel never disappoints, and IMO this is his magnum opus, at least in terms of work he was at least primarily the author of. I wish he didn't remove quicksave/quickload but I can handle it.

The quicksave/load-thing never bugged me, I just press F5 instead and get on with it. This is "neat", not in the slang-sense as if something is cool, but "neat" in the sense that all maps are symmetric, clean and well-thought. All episodes, when you finish, add up the score to the perfect 1,000,000. The only stuff in here I never got into was Episode 5. This was way too ridiculously difficult for me to play, even though I'd play pretty much anything else. Skill 4 maybe comes to call here.

I'd love to give acktung! a go at one point for real, but it's that 2 square/3 square pushwall thing again.

I think Heimzahlung is definitely worth playing, don't expect Coming of the Storm (or Totenkopf SDL) but I had fun with it regardless.

The Golden Episodes have some symmetric areas, but the entire levels are generally not symmetric, at least not an excessive number of them, which is why it doesn't bother me. I'd bet E5 is probably reasonably doable at least on normal once you get to E5L2 and have a machine gun. Definitely think E5L1 is the worst idea in the game though.

And yes ack has the unfortunate problem that some of his maps (at least from the 2000's timeframe) are designed to rely on three-square pushwall movement, so they must be played in DosBOX. Very blatant example of this is getting to the first secret exit (Level 4) in Alliance of Powers. I was playing in SDL and it took me forever to figure out it was that unfortunate design decision because I am very stubborn and persistent when it comes to finding the secret exits without cheating (i.e. looking in an editor)!

Oh and you know, Loki (=Kuki, I think) did most of the levels in Episode 2 of the DHW TC. Might want to try that out if you liked Project: Welt. so much.

Loki, Kuki, what? As far as I know they are two different modders.

Thomas wrote:Loki, Kuki, what? As far as I know they are two different modders.

Loki? I know nothing about this particular modder. If he likes Wolf 3D and Rise of The Triad then possibly he named himself after ROTT's Loki, the dog in the dog mode. Have you ever tried Rise of The Triad?

It's Kuki and he's the one that made Project Weltuntergang. Somehow he found his inner spirit and decided to stop modding altogether because of violence.

That's all up for him to decide. I don't know if that's a recent decision or not, because his last activity was in 2003, and he only very, very sporadically visited the forums since then. I only heard a while back that it was for that reason he "left" the community.

@WolferCooker Does Loki=Kuki, or are they two different people?

They are two different people. It's only their names that are (only slightly) similar. Loki is mostly a mapper while Kuki did both maps, coding and the occasional graphics.

I think WolferCooker said specifically that he is Kuki. I interpreted it to be in response to stathmk's post asking who Loki was.

It would be nice if WolferCooker could clear this up for good cause now I'm confused as well.

Yes, let WolferCooker (he's been here for as long as since 2010 after all!) sum up whether or not members dead 5+ years are the same or not.

De crowd's awaitin'!

It'd be much better if everybody stuck to a name for releasing mods. The whole Ian/Metalor/Chib thing got my wayyyy confused.

In the form of a nice song.

Yes you are right with your previous post Thomas, I agree. Especially since he involved himself in one of your projects (Nazi Operation), you are going to know who he is. I sort of forgot about that when making my previous post, sorry. You are entirely in the right here.

On an off topic slightly, I'm not ready to post 2002 yet (too late in my timezone, 12:30 AM) I definitely get the impression not to bother with the Possum Trot stuff, on the bases that Purgatory and Wolfgeist are the only two that even got awarded. It's odd though, because (forget about Level 27) Nazi Operation jumps right to just about your current standard IMO. Sure it's not my FAVORITE release of yours and not absolutely and positively 100% as good as some of the levels you made since, but besides that one level I couldn't recall finding anything about it that wasn't done well overall.

I'm satisfied with Nazi Operation too and it could be fun to play it again.

Before I go back to 2002, I want to make an August 2006 recall:

One of the mods awarded that month was Wolf-Extra III parts 1-6. I've only played the first three parts (hence the first half), but I am very impressed. This is puzzling brains over brawn done right, with the added fact that of course you ultimately end up killing everything. I love how each "level" is actually a hub of four "floors", firstly because that is very good coding, but also because it almost never used in anything Poet didn't make (the whole things stared with that super secret level in The Tower, I think). I like how there are at least five things you can run over that are hazards/potential hazards (green slime, bomb, syringe, death chalice without a cross, and water puddles to slip in if you have 20% health or better). A lot of games have a few of these things but four is a lot and, more important, they are not used abusively, but rather to make the game tougher. In modern game, stealth and strategy can go too far IMO, but in Wolfenstein you can just get that right mix and that is my impression here so far. Now this gameplay might not be for everyone, but personally, I feel it's one of the best releases of 2006, especially in uniqueness, and it also shows it's possible to take a very old engine and put some uncommon puzzle elements in. Too bad there's no WXIV planned I know of, because just by looking at Ghosts I don't think I'm going to get the same pleasure from it. I give Poet a bravo here, and the fact it's been converted to any easy-install SDL game rather than Dos is icing on the cake.

Anyways...wanted to make a full commentary there as I probably will when I'm well into anything I mentioned as not playing enough of. I'm thinking 2002 tomorrow. Then I might pick just from the news what I would have seen as potential awards in 2001, OR I might play some of the awarded game that sound appealing to me but I just haven't played yet.

Dark_wizzie wrote:It'd be much better if everybody stuck to a name for releasing mods. The whole Ian/Metalor/Chib thing got my wayyyy confused.

Sorry about that. But name preference has a tendency to change. If it makes it easier for you, just think of me as: "That one guy, you know the one. That guy, that was, that, guy, y'know?"

That should clear things up.

-That or simply Ian works I guess.

I've always called him Ian Summerfield, 'cause that's a name to remember, and actually not a very bad name at that. And I used to confuse him with Rocketboy680 and Joshua Waight (Soldat_555 or whatever) as well.

@ WolfForever.

Thank you for the review and comments about Wolf-Extra III. It's appreciated.

I wonder why you don't think you might like ADH/Ghosts, but let us leave that for another thread since this one is about the Dome awards.

There will be an ADH4SDL update including one new episode, hopefully before the end of the month/year.

Thank you very much again for the comments about Wolf-Extra III.

Poet.

@Poet

I don't mind having this thread go a bit off its main topic at times. Technically any work from an author that at some point was awarded is perfectly fair game here.

I did play some of Wolf-Extra SV (the first Wolf-Extra) and it just didn't seem to have the flair WX3 did at all, but I know that's older work, even if it was maybe polished up a bit when ported to SDL. However personally, what work of yours would YOU consider to be your strongest (maybe what you'd rank as your three best, counting all parts of WX3/ADH as one piece of work)? And what would you say is probably your weakest?

And FWIW the main reason I distinguish ADH is primarily because it's the only one that is completely (or really even partially) removed from the Wolfenstein universe graphically.

I would like to say that with all my games I have felt that I achieved what I aimed at. With my early sets I aimed at making levels with designs that made for varied and unpredictable gameplay and surprises. With my later sets I aimed in addition at having more and more unique features and ideas implemented. Although there are som core design factors that are common for all my sets I think each basically has a design style of its own.

As for three favourites, that have to be my three latest sets/series of games, A Doll's House, Wolf-Extra III and The Tower because they have more added to them, like new features, new enemies, new weapons (including projectiles bouncing off walls at a correct angle in ADH), explosion (barrels, rockets) with an explosive range (killing, or hurting more or less, the player and enemies depending on the distance to the center of the explosion), multiple non-linear floors (like you mentioned), and design ideas including puzzles than my previous sets.
I like The Tower also because I personally think it is really epic. I wrote a long story for it and I think the game follows up the story quite well.
For A Doll's House I wanted to make house/mansion like scenarios so I replaced all wall patterns and most of the objects with my own graphics and added some enemie graphics of my own as well. The ADH series I think is my number 1 favourite to date because it has more new features than any of the others, especially When We Dead Awaken.

Since you ask I would like to say that I personally don't find any of my sets actually weaker than others. The earlier ones have not nearly as so much added to them as the later ones but I like them and I think they have a distinct style of their own.

Thanks for your interest.

@Poet You have a point in the condition that you were trying a different goal each time. Wolf-Extra SV seems to have similarities to the original, except more bosses, four keys, a bit more requirement to search around, higher difficulty, and of course the death chalice is one thing you've never done without.

I have the hunch that as you made more, they only became more puzzle-intensive. Certainly Ghosts/ADH, WX3, and The Tower revolve around puzzles probably as much as action. And in between all that, WX2 and Wolf Hour look mighty challenging if nothing else.

Anyways 2002 time here. Last year with awards, but it won't be the end of this thread!:

Project Eisenritter: Awarded in 2003, but released Dec 2002 so it goes here. I actually went ahead and finished it and yes, it's a good game as you'd expect from WSJ. There are indeed an extreme amount of normal guards that are bosses or near-bosses, but WSJ knows how to do anything without spoiling things. There's good weapons, good atmosphere, a good soundtrack, and good use of Lost Episodes resources too. So yeah, it's up there. I do have the feel however that this is the mod all the Mario/Mega stuff was inspired by, with all the boss-like enemies that are actually normal guards, it seems obvious to think some inspiration was taken from here. WSJ always seems to do it best though, and definitely more to my tolerance than Mario/Mega.

Dec 2002: Project Vertilgung - I was never that impressed by this TBH plus it was never finished. My favorite levels by Martin are definitely the E4 ones in the Melee set. Not awarded but BMSE was also released this month. Very good community effort now available in SDL, overall great tribute, and SDL now to boot.

Oct 2002: The Hunt - Harry Sr. mod, never really got into those as I think I've stated already, but I haven't played it.

Sep 2002: Castle Totenkopf - Well Totenkopf SDL pretty much makes talking about this moot, but it was very good for a first release and a sign of things to come.

Aug 2002: Areyep's Texture Library - I don't like to give thoughts on things that don't have levels but given I'm assuming these come from SR and possible a few already created for EoD, I can definitely say with good confidence that there are many excellent graphics to use. Essentially a belated SR award as far as I'm concerned, which of course would have probably been an absolute shoe in if it wasn't released just before the awards started.

Jul 2002: Zero Hour - It is a final product, but again not a big Martin fan from this timeframe. Haven't played, but I noticed one level is essentially E5L8 from the original, which instantly lowers my opinion.

Jun 2002: Ragnarok - Just an ordinary mapset if you ask me, nothing special. Worth it if you're bored maybe.

May 2002: CHAOS Software - Well since they eventually made SDL I guess they did do "outstanding engine development" as the award stated. Also May 2002 Countdown to Disaster - The last time we say Gary Ragland, sixteen large and well made levels that were well worth my time, like anything else by Gary. And finally May 2002 also say Berlin Express - A Harry Sr. mod, but I actually played this and thought it was pretty good, the unique atmosphere made it for me.

Apr 2002: Chemical Warfare - Outstanding and hugely under-appreciated mod. Not that easy to fault, actually. Mapping here is just pure excellence! I really wished Jack Ryerson would have released another set.

Mar 2002: Project Weltuntergang - Actually haven't played but looks really cool and I know Thomas consistently mentions how good this is. I got to get to it!

Feb 2002: Rising Evil - Actually like it better than the sequel, simply because it isn't plagued by very many bugs and the mapping is done quite well. I enjoyed it a lot and it kept my interest! Got to play on hard though or else there's nowhere near enough guards.

Jan 2002: The Tower - Haven't played, but if it has puzzles similar to WX3 I think I'll dig it fairly well.

Overall: 2002 has a lot of good releases. I don't think Spear Resurrection was topped, but I can't really think of a set I mentioned that honestly looked like it was trying to top it. So there were many sets that were good in their own right and I find it hard to pick a favorite.

After 2002 the talk will simply shift to some of the highlights that appeared in prior years. There's definitely a lot more notable stuff to sift through from late 1999-01 (the period of news from Brian pre-awards), IMO.

WolfForever wrote:Project Eisenritter: Awarded in 2003, but released Dec 2002 so it goes here. I actually went ahead and finished it and yes, it's a good game as you'd expect from WSJ. There are indeed an extreme amount of normal guards that are bosses or near-bosses, but WSJ knows how to do anything without spoiling things. There's good weapons, good atmosphere, a good soundtrack, and good use of Lost Episodes resources too. So yeah, it's up there. I do have the feel however that this is the mod all the Mario/Mega stuff was inspired by, with all the boss-like enemies that are actually normal guards, it seems obvious to think some inspiration was taken from here. WSJ always seems to do it best though, and definitely more to my tolerance than Mario/Mega.

Rip-offs are never better than the original, so to hell with that! I mean... Eisenritter is just one of my favorites since I first played it. I remember playing it during Christmastime/winter, and the snowy atmosphere just felt so right. The laboratory levels are beyond compare and a huge inspiration on me personally, and also made the blueprint for future mods feature laboratories. A superb, compact mod. SDL one day, maybe? Personally, I don't think this ought to get new graphics, sounds, etc. - port this as it is and I will be just fine.

WolfForever wrote:Dec 2002: Project Vertilgung - I was never that impressed by this TBH plus it was never finished. My favorite levels by Martin are definitely the E4 ones in the Melee set. Not awarded but BMSE was also released this month. Very good community effort now available in SDL, overall great tribute, and SDL now to boot.

Martin? I always thought this was Zach Higgins 100 %. Anyway - this mod broke my heart. I was wild about this, the maps even got me (though looking back they're a bit average and level 6 is EVIL...) but when I reached level 20 and expected a boss and got nothing, not even a proper finish, I was devastated. I didn't know much English back then and had no idea that this was in progress/canceled. This has led me to despise official releases of unfinished stuff, though I'm no stranger to doing so myself. Silly... Love the graphics though. Great officer and machine gun.

WolfForever wrote:Sep 2002: Castle Totenkopf - Well Totenkopf SDL pretty much makes talking about this moot, but it was very good for a first release and a sign of things to come.

I always thought this was a good warm-up. And for a debut mod, it's really good!

WolfForever wrote:Jul 2002: Zero Hour - It is a final product, but again not a big Martin fan from this timeframe. Haven't played, but I noticed one level is essentially E5L8 from the original, which instantly lowers my opinion.

This looks to me like the first mod that wants to be a "big" mod. We got SR guards, Totengraeber source (seemingly?) and various new additions in coding. Needless to say, this mod has no heart, the levels are dull, and E5L8 (though not the most popular of the original maps) being used is inexcusable. I'd no idea. I never made it past level 6 in this one and this was back in... 2003 or something.

WolfForever wrote:May 2002 Countdown to Disaster - The last time we say Gary Ragland, sixteen large and well made levels that were well worth my time, like anything else by Gary.

I developed a huge crush on Gary Ragland's mapping back in 2003/04, forgot about it and rediscovered it around when I was well into Nazi Operation. This mod, however, was one I never played. I will one day though. "new_30" is another one I never dug, 'cause looking at the maps they're really... Bad. Not like Gary at all. Schabbs 2000 and Assassinate Hitler are essential to me though.

WolfForever wrote:Apr 2002: Chemical Warfare - Outstanding and hugely under-appreciated mod. Not that easy to fault, actually. Mapping here is just pure excellence! I really wished Jack Ryerson would have released another set.

Another bomb from 2002, this wonderful mod will hopefully soon be out in SDL (MCS ported it and I tested it recently) and the mapping... Oh, the mapping! Tricky, inverted, very dark and sort-of uncomfortable, but still very, very enjoyable and unique. My kind of mod! Episode 4 is a great theme though. I wonder why no one ever did an Episode 5-themed mod. Maybe this was Kyle Albert's original intent when Todpfad was still named "Gretel's Castle". I don't know.

WolfForever wrote:Mar 2002: Project Weltuntergang - Actually haven't played but looks really cool and I know Thomas consistently mentions how good this is. I got to get to it!

Dark mapping, unique atmosphere, a bit patchy but well worth the fun.

WolfForever wrote:Feb 2002: Rising Evil - Actually like it better than the sequel, simply because it isn't plagued by very many bugs and the mapping is done quite well. I enjoyed it a lot and it kept my interest! Got to play on hard though or else there's nowhere near enough guards.

Yes, these maps are very empty and I never got out of level 7 (? I think) but the coding showed great promise.

Some reply comments @Thomas :

Vertilgung, you are completely right it's Zach. My bad there.

Totenkopf, it is definitely a very good debut; I just never got around to it and then Totenkopf SDL came out.

Gary Ragland's new30, starts out very subpar for him definitely. However did you ever just try the later episodes? It seemed his skill set fully developed by Assassinate Hitler; given new30 was his only release prior to AH that means by definition new30 must progress to that quality, right?

And you HAVE to use the hardest skill with Rising Evil. I had a lot of fun that way, trust me. But the other skills are definitely WAY too empty, I agree with you regarding any lower difficulty. I think half or more of the guards are Level 4 only.

While we are now in the pre-award timeframe, I feel it's time to move this thread on to 2001! The only different will be that instead of picking the awarded sets I'm sifting through the news by month and picking out what I recall as worth mentioning, i.e. something that could in my view have been an award or at least an honorable mention. If I do not cover what one you feel I should have, feel free to bring it up! If I skip a month it means I couldn't mind anything I think was worth mentioning, similar to how I skipped months with no awards.

News archive here. It goes back to Aug 1999 and I'll probably take this thread just as far back (so about 2 1/2 years including 2001 which follows).

And of course, this doesn't mean you can't talk about something from a later year you felt you didn't get your two cents out on yet, or just would like to comment on! Without further ado:

Nov 2001: Obviously, and by far, Spear Resurrection was the most important release this month! It's been talked about time and time again so much that I'm not going to make a huge paragraph that is just a rehash of what's already been said, but I'll state it's really one of the true timeless classics IMO and rightfully so. Such a good game, and finally there was a proper sequel to Spear of Destiny, a true successor per se, rather than that certain POS called the Lost Episoes. Also in Nov 2001 Pablo Dictter released what I believe is his last set, The SS Gonna Get You. It only has a small number of levels but I feel they're certainly fun. That's really my feel for everything this author made, all short and worthwhile games, never any code changes, and would probably make a great 30-or-so level mapset if they had all been combined. Gary Ragland also released Episode Four this month, another set that goes to show that even just raw maps can make a really worthwhile game. (And no, it probably isn't intended as a new30 extension, as a glance in MapEdit seems to suggest these levels have far superior layouts to those in new30, and I'd imagine it's a lot more fun [not just a b-side release, per se] as a result). I think Brian has it right in his news item: "No new graphics or sounds, etc. but with levels of this quality it doesn't matter!". Bobby Bucksnort also was doing quite a few releases in this time, but like I've said before, I only feel they are in the okay category overall; still, I wanted to give him a single mention nonetheless. What a month, Spear Resurrection and some other solid stuff that shouldn't be missed too!

Sept 2001: The Thirteenth Floor was released, I haven't played it, but it's a catchy name and probably not half bad. What a tragic month, however. Not only did we have 9/11 (yes I know that's got nothing to do with Wolfenstein but I can't look anything of that scale over regardless of what I'm posting about), but we had the loss of John Bucksnort too, the very weekend after 9/11 and just days after he had finished his (obviously final) set. My opinion of his maps doesn't differ much from Bobby Bucksnort, but a death is still a terrible loss and like Bobby, not mentioning him at least once would be just plain wrong. A very dark, sad, and lonely month all across the board.

Aug 2001: Tricob released Operatoin Kill BJ. It's really an acquired taste but it has 60 levels with some obvious work put into them so I'd say it's easily something mentionable regardless. Also in August, Parafriction updated The Final Solution to v3.0, but it is indeed just a beta and was never completed in this version. And finally, there was Fearwolf by Bernt Hansen, a set I'm not all that fond of but didn't feel it was right to just airhead.

There was nothing in July that I didn't already cover in some way, and I'm thinking I'll be doing 1/2 year at a time with this, so that concludes this post. I usually don't summarize half years, but I'd say Spear Resurrection is far and away the biggest think from this timeframe and Episode Four probably places second due to its map quality.

So feel free to comment; I hope I get some of the same types of commentary as I did during the award years - at the very least I really enjoy reading it all.

Any interest left in this discussion?

It's not a huge deal if there isn't but I'd at least like to know from previous participants if they are no longer interested.

In summary, for the second half of 2001, I feel that Spear Resurrection is the (obvious) highlight, while Gary Ragland's Episode Four and Pablo Dictter's sets also are very solid with mapping, the former being extensive levels and the later being smaller but well made ones. Those would by my top three releases (combining anything by Pablo into one because they are all pretty small).

Of the mods from late 2001, I think Episode 4 deserves honorable mention. John Bucksnort's last mods had a lot to offer as well, and Bobby did a great job on Reinstaad. I also dug the Heinmakker project. I also like Pablo Dictter's sets, short and simple and a huge inspiration for me personally when I started mapping differently earlier this year. Operation: Kill BJ was never my bag, way too edgy and the graphics were just awful. Tricob seems to be the only one remembering, the poor bugger.

From late 2001 this screenie looks interesting:



BJ = Hitler? Interesting!

And this statusbar from Weltuntergang always got me:



This was from the 20-level version that apparently WAS released... Anyone got it? Brian? The description says "pics I made"... And I'm sure you must have it lying around somewhere.

"The Return of Dr. Schabbs" was fun to play, I did it once, it was made by a guy who never returned and had some nice coding but a weird status bar.



The first mod with shading came about in October that year:



I recall it as being a mere test engine for new, showy features (at the time).

Anything Fred Kenny did was horrible and stupid.

FearWolf was nice, and the 485,000 incarnations and various screenshots of the ill-fated PROJECT VERDAMMT was also nice.

The 60 level Weltuntergang was released in 2002 (see Mar 2002 news), making the 20 level obsolete.

And I totally agree about Fred BTW. I just ignore that guy's stuff. That's why I didn't give it a mention.

Needless to say I'm assuming SR takes the late 2001 modding cake for you too.

Weltuntergang was the first mod I've seen that has the proper use of the twin chainguns. Vertilgung was the other, but Kuki made the twin chainguns in Weltuntergang much more effective and dangerous.

BTW it doesn't preclude or void commenting, but Return of Dr. Schabbs was a re-posted link per the news; not actually released in the late 2001 timeframe (actual release earlier).

And maybe I'm writing off John/Bobby/anything Bucksnort too quickly. If Thomas had a good time with them, chances are I will too. Really, I don't know of anything he likes and I don't.

BTW - for people on here who like DooM, Pablo Dictter did some very nice work for that game as well. One of the few authors I know of that have given noteworthy contributions to the community for both games. I think his best work (for any game) is Level 16 of a community DooM II mapset called "DOOM 2 UNLEASHED".

I thought I'd go to the first half of 2001 here, calling out releases from that time that I haven't already covered and seem at least somewhat worthwhile:

Actually it looks like a period where most of the work was from authors I've already covered. DTrade, John Bucksnort, Harry Sr., and Pablo Dictter were all active mapping through much of this period, and since I've pretty much covered what I've played of anything from all these authors, there's no real need to name everything as it would be a bit redundant IMO when I really have nothing new to say. Chris Chokan updated (I never knew this set was ever updated!) Chokage on March 2, however; and Areyep updated WolfenDoom on January 13. Neither of these were initial releases, but they are nonetheless updates to sets I think some will consider as classics.

The only new release of note I could find that isn't from one of the authors I mentioned in the second sentence is Wolf Hour, from Poet. It turns out I'm actually playing that set (in its SDL version) currently! I'm just under halfway through and this one has me wanting to play to finish; it's got some typical Wolfenstein action, but Poet's tendency for more puzzly games is clearly there as well. It doesn't have as many cool features as Wolf-Extra III per se, but it still has entertained me as I warm up to the unique style of play.

Still I'm going to leave time for comments and such, not just write this period off and go to late 2000. As stated before, it's not really that nothing new came out in this time, but rather that four or so authors did most of the releases is this time and I've already discussed my thoughts with all of their work in general (though as stated in the above post I'm probably going to give Bucksnort another try).

While I am well aware of the 20-level version of Weltuntergang became obsolete for reasons obvious, I'd still love to see it again, I've never played it and got the feeling it's an entirely different play. If it has been available, someone must have it. Ariel or Brian might. I'd really, really like this.

DTrade always seemed like a cheap Bucksnort knock-off to me. Apparently the guy was from China, and as well all know in our day and age, they steal, rob, mass produce and cheat like no others. Even back in 2001 and in Wolfenstein did they do it! lol....



The Sorcerer's Wrath. Now, again, another one from '01 like Verdammt that saw numerous guises, tons of screenshots, but only one, buggy 1-level showoff demo all in all. Sad, really. Luke Strauman was a pioneer though. Whatever happened to his Arctic Wolf project from 2004??

The Dome's June 23, 2001 entry includes something called "Operation Endauferstehung" - supposedly a 60-level mod that never materialized full, but had some levels anyway (they're on a linked site that is down now) - anyone got those few levels that were released??



"Escape from Stutthof". This would've been nice to see in full or any guise, in my opinion...

In May '01 we saw DUNGEON CEPHALIS... Syphilis?! WTF? A very strange mod.



"Lightwalkers"... Whatever happened?



A guy named Quinnsey and "Undercover Missions"...



This would've been the first to use the MAC BJ on the status bar. I still can't believe I was the first to do it, and this was as late as 2007!!

Operation: Zusammenkunft seemed nice too in this stage, but of all the ACTUALLY RELEASED mods from this time, I'm pretty much all for Bucksnort. I've never played Poet's mods, mainly because I can't spend tons of time working things out, I just need to run around, push walls and shoot. However, there is not one second where I doubt his integrity and his mapping/coding skills.

Operation Buzzbomb was the biz back then, it seems. I thought it was fun when I first played it nine years ago and haven't done so since.

A MATRIX MOD?



This would've made an interesting release.

"The Return of Hitler" <--- Title overused?



Shit like this came out in 2010 or '11! Tacky status bars, oversized sprites etc. The work of an eager young 'un.

Wolf 3D Shareware SE:



Apparently this was released on the same old page I found once where "Wasserstein", "Pukestein" and "Turdstein" also were. Have not seen them since.

Tristan's stuff seemed like a good idea: http://www.belowe.demon.co.uk/crumbling.htm

Here's a bid for a deathmatch multi player from early 2001:



So Doomjedi is a rip-off! I finally caught ya!!

The Dome must've been heaven back then for eager Wolf fans. At this time I was still messing about Episode 1 and getting totally psyched about level 10, hoping there was a level 11 somewhere. Later in 2001 I was told to come downstairs and my dad said "hey, look what I found!" - and it was the full version. I'd been playing the demo version for ages. This was heaven. Officers! Episode 6! All that stuff. Good times.......

I noticed it too, how much stuff was advertised in this period and never finished. Shame, I'm guessing some of it could've been quite good!

Re Poet I can easily understand how one might not personally be a fan of him. You probably either love his stuff, hate it, or don't really dig it but pay respect to his efforts. Definitely your personal style of mapping is very different from Poet, arguably even near polar opposite, since your maps are almost always straight classic "run and shoot" affairs (which there is no problem in at all , that's what Wolf3D was made to be in the first place!).

What disappoints me is that Ryan De Haast has never given us any sort of update regarding his supposed next Rising Evil mod. And it's been how long since Double Trouble has been made? 8-9 years?

Late 2000 time (again not covering Harry Sr./DTrade/John Bucksnort/Pablo Dictter since I already covered them en masse):

Well you wouldn't have guessed by the end of 2000 that the first half of 2001 would see so little releases that isn't by one of those four authors! Right in the last ten days of the year, BJ Rowan released the full version (Phase II) of the timeless classic that is Totengraeber. And not more than a few days apart, Parafriction (Tristian) released The Final Solution 2.0, also a none-too-shabby game as far as I've heard.

In November, Areyep released WolfenDoom, which I'm sure satisfied the appetites of DooM fans and I think it was the first serious release to use DooM material in Wolfenstein. MCS released Wolfenstein Collection, a set that seems to be love or hate by many. But who could have imagined that in the next year they'd collaborate and produce the epic that is Spear Resurrection? Guystein 2 was also released, but I've never really looked at Guy's work much especially because he has that password gimmick if you want to play all sixty levels. I honestly do not know why he thoughts that was a good idea, unless he wanted to be an annoyance.

...Oops! I can't access any of the prior pages in the news archives! Unless I'm able to later I guess that will have to be as far as I can go back (there was nothing big in Sept or Oct 2000). If I can get to the pages later I might update, otherwise sorry this sounds like a bit of an anticlimax, but I did cover 12 years of releases! And there were a few big ones in late 2000 as I mentioned. I haven't played any of them other than Totengraeber either.

If I'm not able to access earlier news, then the next and probably final post(s) will be the classics, and/or sets that otherwise left a strong impression of some form in my mind, that were released prior to this timeframe. There's actually quite a few I'm thinking of, some obvious but some possibly not so obvious.

WOLFENSTEIN IRON EDITION... I remember playing that one, having completely forgotten about its existence until now, looking up the late 2000 Dome news in order to pollute this thread further. I have to admit it was a fun play, but it was probably buggy as hell with crappy mapping... lol... Can't remember.

Guy named Eric Vaughn, was apparently a hot shot back in the day but I've never seen any actual product from the guy or heard him mentioned since.



"Project Holleregen" - that looked nice!

Likewise for the guy Kenny Riley. His bid about the same time never materialized either:



"Hinrichtung". Pretty good titles.

Wolfendoom: I've never played it in full, played some maps, enjoyed them tremendously, eventually tiring from the Doom scenario which doesn't work in a Wolf setting (for me). I'd rather play the original Doom or a Wolfenstein-themed mod.

MCS' Wolfenstein Collection, the toughest motherfucker out there also came out about this period. Never got past level 7 and hardly ever found any secrets. Tough mapping! MCS was always good at that.

John Hedgehog. What a waste of time and space. Creator maps and childish title screens... Gimme a break.



Always liked this pic of The Final Solution when it was still in-progress. Nice brown brick wall, doncha think?

"Auferstehung" by Will Jeffries. Another lost mod nobody talks about. Is it worth mentioning anyway? I seem to remember it, LE guards and straight-Wolf sprites and textures (I suppose) --- I could be totally wrong though.



ZombieStein... Written in Barbie purple it doesn't seem very frightening, now does it...

Assault on Hell by Little Snabes. Played it once... Lots of gore, shooting, enjoyed it. Not a desert island pick though!!

Operation Siege by Celtor is just terrible.

Nazi Ambush by Bobby Bucksnort - good job here!

lilmanjs wrote:

WolfForever wrote:@lilmanjs: I think one of the main points of 2007's talk will be around one single level, and it isn't anything you were involved in.

Can't think of a level that would get that much talk from one of the mods that won awards in 2007, but still the little team that made Final Fight won an award. Still one of the hardest levels I've ever played is that boss level Ack made for the final episode.

Final Fight 1 E6L9? Because I just played it, it was almost too easy to be enjoyable.

I still think the hardest (for me) is a tie between End of Destiny's last level and Project Eisenritter's last level. I remember winning Eisenritter with 4 % health and 0 ammo.

I'll try Eisenritter, I don't recall having too many problems with EoD. (On hardeest difficulty with no saves, probably would bring up the fire!) After The Lost Relic and SHS... Eisenritter is Dos?

Eisenritter is DOS.

I'm starting to give up hope that WSJ would revamp all his mods. I don't think he has the time to do anymore Wolf3d modding.

Wizzie, try Totenschlauss. The last level is even harder than The Lost Relic.

I love Eisenritter....looooove it.

First mod I played with a real lab-like atmosphere (Eisenritter)