Doom II Dark World

[Hellser]

(Boom-compatible sourceport required to run)

These 11 maps are patterned after the first set of 11 levels in Doom II. The concept for this mapset was inspired by the Dark World levelsets from Super Meat Boy: levels with the same broad layout as the original they're based on, and with a familiar look, but with different aesthetics and a much higher challenge factor. The chief mapping guideline we followed was that if a player knew their way around the original map, then they should never get lost playing one of these. The goal is to provide longtime Doom II veterans with a fresh experience traversing maps which feel both instantly familiar and new and challenging at the same time.

This set is equal parts creative endeavor and learning experience. With the exception of Grymmoire, the mappers in this project have few to no publicly released maps under their belt.

The project took a lot longer than it should have taken to get to this point. It started in 2016 when I set myself the challenge of recreating MAP02 from memory. The concept for the mapset was set shortly afterward, and what followed were several short spurts of creative work punctuating months of distraction at a time. Within those two years, the mapping meme of recreating Entryway from memory came and went, and the project may have lost most of what little originality it had at first. It should still be fun to play, though lacking in novelty.

MAP11 was our finish line for release, but it isn't set in stone that we're going to leave it there. If this mapping concept resonates with anyone else, get with one of us about trying one of the later maps. We'd love to have this thing up to the full 32, but getting there ourselves might take the rest of our natural lives to do those maps justice.

The maps are in Boom format, and tested with ZDoom v2.8.1, GZDoom v3.1.0, PrBoom+ v2.5.1.4, and Eternity v3.42.03. Demos for PrBoom+ are included in the WAD.

NOTE: The maps were designed around vanilla's movement and aiming restrictions. You won't break things too badly with freelook, but you will sequence break like mad through jumping or crouching.

MAP01: Gateway, by Trance
MAP02: Underhells, by Hellser
MAP03: Anguish, by Hellser
MAP04: The Heart, by InsanityBringer
MAP05: The Wasteyard, by Hellser
MAP06: The Rise And Fall, by Trance
MAP07: Dead, by Grymmoire
MAP08: Deceive and Seduce, by Hellser
MAP09: The Bloodpit, by InsanityBringer
MAP10: Spawning Pool, by Hellser
MAP11: Cocytus, by Trance

Tall skies were grabbed from the Skulltag Resource Pack.

Download link:
d2dw-v1.zip

/idgames link:
Here!

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[Gollgagh]

Oooh, I always like these kinds of things.

[Dr_Cosmobyte]

This reminds me of two things:

- Silent Hill's "bizarre" world

- Disgaea's Dark Sun World

I am playing it ATM and got surprised many times. I'll give detailed feedback as soon as i'm done,

[Brohnesorge]

I went into this fully expecting what happens with every other Doom II "remake" WAD to happen: Maps that are the vanilla maps with either fancy effects, 9 billion enemies or an extra room or two. But this is so much more than that. The maps are clearly inspired by the Doom II map, but are NOT exact copies. A truly wonderful mapset that I'll play over and over again. Will recommend and pass around my friend circle for sure.

[Hellser]

Glad that you like it, Brohn. If you've noticed any problems or have feedback to give us - don't be shy.

[Dr. Shotgun]

I'm a huge fan of the entire concept of "Dark Worlds" and basically any parallel alternative interpretation of the same location. So I had some high hopes going in.

Happy to say that for the most part, they were met. Though the Crusher analogue did start to try my patience a bit. I'm not particularly keen on the instant death traps, at least the ones that have no warning to them. For instance, there's no real way to predict that the ceiling above the crusher switch will also activate, killing you if you pretty much don't know going that that is going to happen. If perhaps the ceiling in that hallway were as high as the crusher itself, then it could be a clue, or at least a chance for the player to react. As it is though, your first blind playthrough will probably have you die there. Similarly, the final room will kill you if you don't know exactly what to do going into it. Staying and fighting, which I would assume is a natural doomer's instinct, results in death thanks to the "respawning" Arachnotrons. Likewise, it seemed to me that only one teleporter will work among them. Maybe I missed some, or it was a bug, but the first teleporter I tried didn't work. There was the flashing one, and I'll take some responsibility for not noticing it but in my defense, I was being attacked from all sides. Also it required some tricky maneuvering over very small platforms. Again, while under fire.

That's not to say I'm against all traps, as long as the player is given a fighting chance. The three nobles in a suddenly caged room from Map05 was a good example of this. There's having a giggle and then there's being needlessly mean. Unfortunately, The Rise and Fall kind of leaned more towards the latter.


That being said, I did like this pack otherwise. As I said, I'm already a huge fan of the Dark World concept, and seeing these hellified versions of classic maps was fun. I enjoyed how they played with expectations (in a usually fair way) and created an atmosphere of "the same but not quite." Design-wise I loved the aesthetic of the final room in The Heart. I'm only just now understanding the name.

[Trance]

Thank you for your feedback. Regarding the crusher hallway, I actually did include a few visual clues to try to telegraph that to the player before they hit the switch. The ceiling texture of the moving sections matches that of the main crusher above the Spider Mastermind, the texture chosen for the upper sidedefs of the two sets of stairs in the center is a texture I only use for a floor or ceiling that at some point moves, and there are a few gore piles scattered on the floor that look like what you get when a corpse is crushed under a door.

The teleporter behavior you experienced in the final arena is not a bug. There is only one working teleporter, and it's the one that glows. It's also the hardest one to get to.

[Dr. Shotgun]

Well I guess the crusher bit is on me. I will stand by my statements regarding the final room, though.

[Trance]

That's totally fine. I'm not about to argue those points.

[0mrcynic0]

It would be great if all levels on Doom 2 (and Final Doom to an extent) could be converted to the "Dark World" version.

[Trance]

A desire that I share. The ones we've released were a lot of work, though. Mapping all the way to the end of Doom II will likely require assistance from other interested mappers.

[Hellser]

Updated OP with the idgames link. Enjoy, everyone!

[JohnnyTheWolf]

It would be great if all levels on Doom 2 (and Final Doom to an extent) could be converted to the "Dark World" version.

I would suggest The Ultimate Doom as well, given how piss-easy most of its maps are.

[0mrcynic0]

A desire that I share. The ones we've released were a lot of work, though. Mapping all the way to the end of Doom II will likely require assistance from other interested mappers.

And I think a short story about the Dark World would be great as well. I know that Doom isn't known for great story lines but wads like Whispers of Satan and Going Down made me push through the game for its short but interesting intermissions.

What the heck, as long as the maps are good then story lines go second.

[RedoLane]

Hmmm, but Hell is technically a dark world, so.... this is Heaven?
Just kidding, will go through the maps right now!