Over at Doomworld I spotted a very interesting project spearheaded by Shadesmaster. Switcheretic's premise is to build maps in the Romero style, BUT remake them from Heretic! Since Heretic's E1M1 was "The Docks," DOOM's E1M1 would be a sort of 'Docking Hanger." Since Heretic had it's 'Hell' episode in 2 rather than 3... it gets reversed in DOOM. So the "Ice Grotto" from Episode 2 would essentially become E3M4, the "Hell Grotto" - and adopt a Slough of Despair visual. Note that this is for DOOM 1, *but* uses a special resource WAD. Therefore, you can populate levels with mid-tier monsters like Hell Knights, to spruce things up a bit. Other resources reside therein; a smattering of new monsters like the Plasma Imp Lord, or the Pulse Rifle - a weaker plasma gun found in Episode 1 that compensates by bouncing off walls! Find this as interesting as I do? Then check the dev-thread or even join the team for this ambitious project!

The mapper RonnieJamesDiner has just released his new masterpiece Tartarus at the Doomworld forums. "The air chokes with the metallic mist of blood. Unimaginable pillars reach above and below to unseen structures of Hell. The Gates of Tartarus tower amidst the haunted vapor -- a Stygian fortress guarding the passage to realms beyond. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." This map had several sources of inspiration, but the biggest one were the Nether Fortresses in Minecraft (both visually and mechanically). The mapper always wanted to make a Doom map that had the sensation of finding one of these in the Nether, especially with the idea where the environment is as dangerous as the denizens lurking within. That said, there are no teleports if you fall off any of the ledges into the chasm - you are dead! Check it out!

Mapping in Doom often comes with a sense of style, of which you instantly recognize who the author is. A pcorf map is easily spotted, and whenever a work by Esseltfortium or Jimmy is released, you know what you are dealing with. Major Arlene's Technicolor Antichrist Box provides a blueprint of Doom Mapping in 2020. This GZDoom-heavy map (Run this at least in version 4.1.1) treats the player on a wide array of colors and custom textures, varying from Zoontex by Jimmy, the magnificent OTEX texture pack by Ukiro, along with GothicTX, ArchTex, AATex and some custom recolors by Major Arlene. On top of that, a custom, cyan-colored palette is used, making the map ''pop''.

Keep in mind, Technicolor Antichrist Box is a slaughtermap. For regular players: This map is thus designed to kick your hiney. Play on Hey, Not Too Rough, and you will be fine. Those who do get to play Technicolor Antichrist Box are awarded with a map that not only looks beautiful, but also plays the part aswell. It is a single example of where Doom mapping stands in 2020, in a year where Doom has been stronger than it has ever been. Play this map at your leisure. It is a surefire portal to a slice of entertainment.

For the fourth and maybe last time, Alando1 puts you into the Temple of the Lizard Men, a mod heavily inspired by the old classic game Unreal based on the GZDoom engine. So what can you expect? A weapon upgrade system, a flashlight that can be activated/deactivated while still wielding your weapon, some new enemies to join the cast from TOTLM3, a new soundtrack with awesome adventure style music, six player classes to choose from; each have their own storyline, some new items and power-ups up to four player coop compatibility, higher quality voice acting and much more. The release date is nearing, so check the thread for more information and don't miss this awesome mod.

A few days ago I got an e-mail from Tomas Taufer (I hope it's okay that I mention you here). I wasn't sure what to expect when reading reading the subject "Words of Praise" because I had similar contacts already, offering me $ 1.000.000 from an indian bank account or a box of newly developed viagra types. In this case, I was curious and started reading though.

I just completed the "ZDoom Community Map Project - Take 2" and... *sigh*... the first thing, that comes into my mind [..] are the words of the song by Fatboy Slim "I Have To Praise You"... like I should!

Because I constantly feel a remarkable surprise of what a community of enthusiastic people can accomplish (and without salary, just a pure joy from jurney). It is nearly unimaginable. It is (and please excuse me my language here but) it is just one fuckin' map, and it feels really complete ("Four hours of play, like - really?!"). It's like a one whole game without blind spots, very nice ideas and places. Coherent, is the word I would say. Coherent and well crafted.

May I have a serious request to you? Can I ask you to pass these words of praise to other people (modders) so they know? I really think, for what they do, they deserves at least that. The knowing. The acclaim. Especially when the ratio of free stuff and it's quality is as it is, as I know it is work of passion, "sweat", common goal, unmistakable joy of the results. I don't want to sound any pretentiously (or something like that), but if there are no other voices of praise from the community of mere players, please consider me as a voice for all of them. I had a fun and really good time. As I am a "stickler" I enjoyed every detail perfectly crafted and added (damn. I forgot the easter eggs... oh my... the easter eggs!) Thank you guys!

He asked me to pass the words, and so I did. Thanks for the kind words Tomas, and thanks again to everyone who has contributed to the ZDCMP2. I think we achieved an amazing result with it and it's still very enjoyable to people out there - including myself, playing it from time to time.

Another time, another /newstuff Chronicles. As usual in a frequent turnus, Doomworld presents you reviews on the latest releases, the community serve us at the /idgames archies. As usual, the quality varys and there are some interesting pieces and some you can instantly skip again. Check the whole article here and give it a shot, it's worth it. My personal suggestions are Spidersilk from Zan-Zan-zawa-veia and Big Trouble at Deimo's Base by Carlos Lastra.