#doom phobos revisited

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2004): Phobos Revisited

We previously met Rex Claussen back in May of the last year (as of writing this) when I took a look at his Star Wars total conversion The Darkest Hour. It was one of the more polarizing WADs I’ve played due to how much of a mixed bag it was. Have a link to that review if you are interested: ==>

Today’s WAD of his is, however, anything but a total conversion. In fact, it doesn’t require any source port to be played with.

G7: Phobos Revisited

Main author(s): Rex Claussen

Release date: September 9th, 2004 (original version)/ September 13th, 2004 (modified version)

Version played: Modified (I guess)

Required port compatibility: Vanilla

Levels: 9 (classic episode standard)

If you didn’t notice the purpose of this WAD by its name by this point, Phobos Revisited is another episode 1 replacement that tries to replicate the magic of the original episode with its more.. unique spin for lack of better words. However, unlike, for instance, Phobos WAD from 1998 which tries to look more realistic, this WAD prefers to be closer to the original aesthetics of Knee-Deep in the Dead, to the point of (at least partially) replicating the geometry and pathing of the original levels.

Did it succeed after almost two years of development? Well, let’s find out.

Visually this WAD does a good job. While it is simplistic and abstract, it fulfills the purpose of being a homage to Knee-Deep in the Dead. Many times I felt like I was playing the original Doom I. It’s that similar. It even has more details due to the standards from the time it was released.

Unpredictably, playing this episode replacement is basically the same as the original one. I’m not complaining about it, I’m just stating the obvious.

But truth be said, it’s not one-to-one recreation of the OG levels’ progress. Many times it subverts and/or extends how you progress. Phobos Revisited even utilizes locations that were originally exclusive for secrets. That’s kind of awesome.

As for the other interesting stuff, the PR version of Central Processing has a set of barrels where, if you blow up the leftmost one while looking at them, you will push the Voodoo Doll unto Megaarmor and Soulsphere. Sure, you will get hurt, but it will mean nothing due to the items I’ve just mentioned.

There is even a funny moment at the very end of the WAD, where you can choose the teleporter to one of the three death zones. These zones differentiate with what demons blow you up.

Phobos Revisited is really easy. Sure, it is harder compared to the original episode, and there are at least two moments where you end up surrounded by enemies unlike in KDITD, but for an experienced player that finished some of the harder WADs released between 1994 and 2003, it will be nothing more but walking through butter.

It kind of gets harder in E1M9 and E1M8 but, as I said earlier, it’s still an easy WAD.

Phobos Revisited is a rather enjoyable trip to the past for people who want to play the first episode again but done differently and modernized (by 2004 standards) and even for people who want to enjoy some good Doom I WAD that doesn’t waste their time (like me).

Next time we will be taking a look at...

at...

You look at the next WAD on your list.

Uhm... Guys?

Is it me or does this WAD look especially demonic?

Hell Revealed II WAD:

0_O

I’m doomed...

[asaltyrat]

Doom 1993 | Why does it play good?

I played the original DOOM when I was 10 or 12 in my Aunt's Dusty Ol' Office with her Dusty Ol' Computer running Windows 95.

I probably shouldn't have been playing it.

But I did, got to plow through hundreds of angry demons through space bases and huge pits of hell. I learned to understand pain-states and got so excited when I finally beat the first chapter in one sitting. Then something strange happened. I kept playing DOOM.

It wasn't like I had a habit of not revisiting my old favorite games. Legend of Zelda, Starcraft, Quake. These games are burned in my brain and I love picking them up for a few days and enjoying a good ol' fashioned adventure, despite that the games themselves havn't aged well with the times. But DOOM is something I would happily actively stream again. Play through again, dive into the dedicated modding community again. Over and over, and I have absolutely no idea WHY it's like this.

Doom is an OLD game. Not exactly old as dirt, old as the land itself, but it celebrated its 30th anniversary not too long ago and it slaps me in the face that this game is nearly as old as I am. And yet it still keeps offering gameplay I'm dedicated to. That I want to keep enjoying and toying with. I've even considered trying to Speedrun the game a few times.

What is it with DOOM that keeps it's fan base positively frothing for new releases? Not just the overhauled, high intensity action that was 2016's DOOM or DOOM Eternal, but even the older fan .wads and, even still. SIGIL from John Romero, and now Legacy of Rust from the folks at Nightdive and a few extremely dedicated veteran .wad makers.

The Ultimate Doom Steam Port is stellar (sans a few strange sound issues) and people are still remixing E1M1 with some very exciting results. I had a variable amount of whiplash when I found out that OCRemix's "Dark Side of Phobos" started back in 2004, 11 years after the game's release.

I don't need to review the game or give a solid opinion. This is more just me absolutely out of my mind because the DOOM Train hasn't stopped, and I don't understand why.

It's no wonder I'm hitting up the full Vanilla release for the next few upcoming streams while making Crass commentary through it.

Stay Salty~

[doom-nerdo-666]

Hi, I just recently got into DOOM (and found your blog). Do you have any good recommendations for fan doom mods/maps? (they range from the most popular ones to your own personal favorites or little niche levels)

I'm going to see what i can think of because there's always good stuff that not even the Cacowards bring up.

As for mapsets or wads:

Romero's Sigil is obvious as if it should be official.

Memento Mori series

Requiem

Icarus Alien Vanguard

300 minutes of /vr/

Ancient Aliens

Anomaly Report

Alien Vendetta

Back to Saturn X series

Doom 2 Reloaded

Doom 1/2 The Way id Did

Some of the Doomer Board Projects like AUGER;ZENITH and Emerald City

Doom Zero

Doom city which is pretty good for a single map

Epic 2

Good Morning Phobos

Jenesis

Japanese Community Project

Moonblood

Munity

Plutonia 2 and Plutonia Revisited

Rebirth

Scythe 2

TNT Revilution

PhobosDeimos Anomaly

UAC Ultra

Going Down

Doom 64 for Doom 2

Consolation Prize (PS1 Doom and Doom 64 but compatible with gameplay mods)

Whispers of Satan

Note that some of them could be difficult or even have things like DEHACKED enemies or whatever can get in the way of a gameplay mod.

And speaking of gameplay mods:

High Noon Drifter

GMOTA

Combined Arms

Space Hunter

Colorfull Hell

DAKKA

Legions of Bones

Vanilla Doom Plus

Legendoom Lite

MK-Champions

Corruption Cards

TrailBlazer

Project Babel

Supercharge

Samsara

MetaDoom

Doom Delta

D4T

D4V

Final Doomer

Demon Counterstrike

Treasure Tech

Bratwurst

Netronian Chaos

Highway Acceleroid Booster

Eriguns 1/2

Psychic

Cybers Monster Randomizer

La Tailor Girl

Dusted's Pandemonia

Accessories to Murder

Cola 3

Hideous Destructor

Lt Typhon

And for TC stuff

Golden Souls series

Beyong Reality

Strange Aeons

Skulldash

The Edge of Time

REKKR

Reelism 1/2

Adventures of Square

Pirate Doom

StrongHold: Edge of Chaos

Project Uber

Winter's Fury

There's probably still examples i'm missing, so this is what i thought of.

A good way to look for more is see info of people involved like if they have Doomwiki articles or accounts on other websites and see what else they did.

And because this list is already big, you don't have to look most of them right way so feel free to use your time and interest with how you look at them.

Because some of this stuff can be difficult for newcomers like certain wads and mods.

There's also what versions of GZDoom or ZDoom a certain mod could use since some mods might be discontinued while GZDoom gets new updates.

[hellsite-yano]

As usual: The List of Completed Games 2023

Arrival (DOOM) Sunder (DOOM) Mibibli's Quest Action Doom (DOOM) Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl (DOOM) Assault on Tei Tenga (DOOM) Maptroid: Worlds Demons of Problematique (DOOM) Demons of Problematique 2 (DOOM) Newgothic Movement (DOOM) Newgothic Movement 2 (DOOM) Legacy of Heroes (DOOM) TNT Revilution (DOOM) /pol/ (DOOM) Equinox (DOOM) Thunderpeak (DOOM) Pizza Tower Automaton Lung SMBNext: Sunset Shores Heart of the Killer Elderand Kama Sutra (DOOM) Brotherhood of Ruin (DOOM) Brotherhood of Ruin: The Lost Temple (DOOM) Metroid Fusion: Special Edition No End in Sight (DOOM) Counterattack (DOOM) Consolation Prize (DOOM) Golden Souls 2 (DOOM) Super Metroid Redesign: Axeil Edition REKKR The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 2 Castlevania: Simon's Destiny (DOOM) The Legend of Dark Witch 3 Micro Slaughter Community Project (DOOM) Cave Story 3D Plutonia Revisited Community Project (DOOM) 200 Minutes of /vr/ (DOOM) Hell Ground (DOOM) Mutiny (DOOM) Diabolus Ex (DOOM) Rusted Moss Dread Templar The Machine (Knytt Stories) Ashes 2063 Enriched (DOOM) Carnage Oasis (DOOM) Ashes Afterglow (DOOM) MAYhem 2048 (DOOM) Doom 2 Redux (DOOM) Bungle in the Jungle (DOOM) Anomaly Report (DOOM) MyHouse (DOOM) Dementium Remastered HROT BACULUS (DOOM) Doom 2 Reloaded (DOOM) Vracks Botanicals (DOOM) Resurgence (DOOM) Invasion UAC (DOOM) SuperDoom (DOOM) 2048 Units of /vr/ (DOOM) Cydonia (DOOM) Happy (DOOM) Tetris Effect: Connected Moonblood (DOOM) Liminal Doom (DOOM) Tetanus (DOOM) Plutonia Revisited Community Project 2 (DOOM) Shadow of the Wool Ball (DOOM) Monuments of Guilt BABBDI NaissanceE Post Void I wish it was morning all the time HOLEHOLE MAZEMAZE Kowloon's Curse: Lost Report South Scrimshaw Part One Outcore: Desktop Adventure Nyaruru Fishy Fight Viewfinder Sludge Life 2 Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer Herald of Havoc Pseudoregalia Deadlink Lone Fungus Fox Flares Turbo Overkill Blasphemous 2 AMID EVIL - The Black Labyrinth Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Inscryption Neyasnoe Northern Journey Wonderputt Forever Super Junkoid (Super Metroid) Manifold Garden Contra 4 Metal Slug 7 Space Invaders Extreme Space Invaders Extreme 2 Outer Wilds Ion Fury: Aftershock Submachine 1: the Basement Submachine 2: the Lighthouse Submachine 3: the Loop Quake II - Enhanced Edition Escape Escape PRIPRI MELLOWOLLEM Submachine 4: the Lab Submachine 5: the Root Submachine 6: the Edge Submachine 7: the Core Venturous (DOOM) Devotion Good Morning Phobos (DOOM) Winter's Fury (DOOM) OBZEN (DOOM) Rush (DOOM) HAPPY WORLD SJ-19 Learns To Love! Graze Counter GM Hypnagogia 無限の夢 Boundless Dreams Beeny The Sun Will Rise Again

[wadbot]

deimos-v.wad: Deimos: Slight Return E2M4 (1008, -1733, 0) Author: ReX Claussen Date: 2011-12-08 Description: Nine maps that attempt to capture the look and feel of the original Episode 2. While the influence of the original E1 maps is unmistakable, the player will note some significant differences. First, the gameplay is markedly different. While using only the enemies in E2, Deimos: Slight Return is meant to be tougher and more challenging -- more enemies in tighter situations; better balanced ammo, health, & armor; and better use of the tougher enemies. Second, the map layouts are often very different from the originals. The logical progression has changed, as have many of the methods of accessing the secrets. I have done this while trying to retain the appearance and scale of the original, so that the player has a sense of deja vu. I emphasize that each map is built from scratch, with the originals only used for reference. Third, the architecture is updated to current standards while staying within the limits of vanilla DooM. For, although players will undoubtedly use source ports, these levels are ultimately meant to be enjoyed first with vanilla DooM. Fourth, the original E2 did not use editing tricks that are not uncommon in today's maps -- instantly lowering sectors, 3D bridges, etc. Phobos Revisited occasionally does.

[evajellion]

FF5 Four Job Fiesta: Part 3/3

AKA the lowest point of a game that would otherwise be perfect.

This is where the game starts becoming… not so fun. Once again, you are left with three party members, much like how we started part 1/3, but the issue here is that we do not have the resources or ability to fly around and prepare for our next destination.

The Pyramid of Moore isn’t fun. It’s full of enemies weak to healing and holy, which in itself is fine considering we picked up Curaga, but there’s a certain enemy you cannot flee from, boobytraps galore, as well as “overworld encounters” in the form of giant robots that have a ton of health! It took multiple tries before I cleared that hell hole, thank god there isn’t a boss fight. No, that comes after the pyramid.

We fight the Melusine which possessed Lenna off-screen apparently, and this boss is kinda annoying. You have to constantly scan it to figure out what its weakness and immunities are. Thankfully, she can be put to sleep so I could go ham with Red Mage abilities.

Thankfully after that, we get access to the sealed weapons.

Well, we get access to three of them in exchange for the Earth Lithograph, but that’s more than enough as I decided to yoink the Sage’s Staff and Flame Whip immediately. We’re gonna need them for a future destination. While I was at it, I also stopped at the Phantom Village for better equipment.

I was worried about the Island Shrine because on my first playthrough, the Wendigo was an absolute bore of a fight, but this fight went over much better and I took him down fairly quickly.

Now, this is a problem I personally have with this game- the linearity. You would think at this point you can get whichever lithograph in whatever order, but no, the game actually forces you to go into the Fork Tower and retrieve Flare and Holy before you can get the last two lithographs. This is irritating for this kind of run, imagine if I hadn’t gotten a White Mage as my first roll…

I did however, come up with my own strategy around this. I would switch around the jobs of my characters so my Chemist was now a White Mage and my Red Mage was now a Chemist, etc. (Beastmaster stayed the same) Then, I went to go pick up the Chicken Knife, an optional item. I also stocked up on Holy Water and Maiden’s Kiss, as well as MP items for the Chemist to mix.

Now, it seemed we were prepared. The Chicken Knife allowed us to flee from enemies in the Fork Tower and take out the Minotaur as quickly as possible. The Omniscent however, was a long, close battle and I made sure to keep Reflect on for when he finally keeled over with a Flare spell.

That was only one major obstacle down, and now with the Holy spell in our hands, the game gets slightly easier. You see, the next area just so happens to have enemies that are weak t–

Oh Jesus Christ!

Yeah, no wonder these things are weak to holy, because those are pretty unholy. Not as nightmarish as the Unknowns in FF7 but still! Was Nomura alright when designing these guys!? They clash with the rest of the game! They look like they belong in Parasite Eve, not Final Fantasy!

Uh, anyway, we make good use of their encounters for some EXP. The skeleton also comes with Doom, which puts other enemies on a death timer, so I ended up catching one of them for fun.

Since we do not have the Float ability, we had to traverse the lava puzzle manually. Which took several attempts and deaths before I got lucky. Ironically, the boss of this area is a complete joke in comparison. On my first playthrough I somehow managed to get Triton, Nergade, and Phobos to destroy themselves via confusion. This time though, I just summoned Odin through the Magic Lamp I found at Easterly Falls, which kills all three of them at once.

Speaking of the Easterly Falls, we immediately revisit that place through an underwater entrance to get the Water Lithograph. No boss fight required, and the checklist of optional bosses don’t require fighting Leviathan on my end.

They did however, require these two.

So the Phoenix Tower doesn’t really have a boss besides a Soul Cannon and forced random encounters you cannot run away from. I once again had to stock up on healing items, mainly because certain enemies in the tower would inflict zombie, and that’s annoying.

We did reach the top, and… were forced to scale all the way back down. I didn’t waste my elixirs on the Magic Pots, since they aren’t guaranteed to disappear like in FF7. It’s better to just save them for Exdeath for now.

Bahamut was easier than I expected. I anticipated he would use Mega Flare, but I think I beat him too quickly before I could set it off. I put on Wall Rings for nothing it seemed, but his Atomic Ray was fired back at him at least.

I wasn’t exactly confident about going into the N-Zone, even with the extra items I had bought and back-up equipment I had. My party was about 10 levels lower than what most people were at when going in to face Exdeath.

But, I didn’t have much left in the game to do. Grinding areas are sparse in this game. So I bit the bullet and dove in. Currently, the strategy was for the Red and White Mage to rely on Holy and healing, the Chemist doing mixing and using the Chicken Knife, while the Beastmaster was put on berserk or caught a strong enemy.

The strat worked on mostly all of the bosses in the N-Zone. The Wood Sprite tried to heal herself by using reflection magic, but the Holy and physical damage pretty much overpowered her. Same goes for the Apanda.

(By the way, screw the Omega, he needs to move his fat mecha butt outta the way! I kept running into him by accident, and my run doesn’t require beating him!)

I hate the Azulmagia. And you have to fight him if you want access to a save point. I was throwing everything at him just so he would stay down, but he just kind of spammed blue magic to knock down my party like they were pegs. I don’t know how I beat him, perhaps my desperation won out in the end, which gave me access to one of the few save points in the N-Zone.

Catastrophe and Halicarnassus weren’t hard at all, I resorted to the previous strategy used for Apanda. The Twintania though, obviously I had to prepare with a Coral Ring on my White Mage, made sure to set up magic reflection so Mega Flare would bounce back to him.

The last third of the N-Zone, and the first thing we run into is our good friend Gilgamesh for one last battle! It’s mostly a scripted fight and one of the easiest in the game. Can’t say the same for the rest of the area, in which the task is to just survive until you reach the last save point… which is guarded by the Necrophobe.

Simply mix the Dark Matter that was collected with Phoenix Downs, four times to get rid of his barriers, then wail out on him and try to survive until Gilgamesh saves us. I actually almost screwed up this fight because I accidentally picked “Fight” on my White Mage instead of healing.

The last save, and we have Exdeath in our sights, the final stretch.

And I can’t find myself to fight him.

Our party is too under-leveled (partly due to the Chicken Knife forcing that 25% flee chance), our Red Mage doesn’t know Dualcast yet, and even just trying to leave the N-Zone is a struggle due to how the enemies can be. Our equipment really isn’t strong enough to take down the final boss, who IMO, is the hardest final boss in the Final Fantasy games I’ve played so far.

I think we’re actually stuck. I’m stumped. Grinding in this game really isn’t fun, traveling out of the N-Zone for enemies that give worse EXP in exchange for buyable items is just extremely tedious.

Maybe this is how Exdeath wins.

I’m gonna try to take some time, figure out if I can find a good grinding space, but don’t be surprised if I don’t come back to this game for a while because the N-Zone is such a pain to deal with. Especially with the challenge set upon myself. If we can at least get Dualcast, we might have a chance here.

[dmvisbot]

deimos-v.wad Author: ReX Claussen Date: 12/08/11 Description: Nine maps that attempt to capture the look and feel of the original Episode 2. While the influence of the original E1 maps is unmistakable, the player will note some significant differences. First, the gameplay is markedly different. While using only the enemies in E2, Deimos: Slight Return is meant to be tougher and more challenging -- more enemies in tighter situations; better balanced ammo, health, & armor; and better use of the tougher enemies.Second, the map layouts are often very different from the originals. The logical progression has changed, as have many of the methods of accessing the secrets. I have done this while trying to retain the appearance and scale of the original, so that the player has a sense of deja vu. I emphasize that each map is built from scratch, with the originals only used for reference.Third, the architecture is updated to current standards while staying within the limits of vanilla DooM. For, although players will undoubtedly use source ports, these levels are ultimately meant to be enjoyed first with vanilla DooM.Fourth, the original E2 did not use editing tricks that are not uncommon in today's maps -- instantly lowering sectors, 3D bridges, etc. Phobos Revisited occasionally does.

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2007): Wonderful Doom - Part 1

As I said in my previous review, we are finally checking out the MegaWAD which has more than 32 maps. Not counting Daedalus since it’s a partial conversion. The last normal WAD with so many maps was 2002: A Doom Odyssey. That WAD was fine, I guess? My memory of playing it is murky at this point in time. Nonetheless, I’m still kind of excited about playing another WAD like this.

S2: Wonderful Doom

Main author(s): Eugene Guschin (Wraith777)

Release date: 2007 (original release)/November 23rd, 2011 (version 1.3)

Version played: 1.3

Required port compatibility: Vanilla

Levels: 36 (standard 8 + 1 per episode)

Wonderful Doom is another WAD that tries to replicate the feeling of the original game, similar to the types Phobos Revisited (2004). Unlike that kind of WADs, however, where they were at most one episode long and focused only on the first episode, this WAD decided to take one, gigantic leap and recreate the feeling of the entire Ultimate Doom with its own spin sprinkled in.

Now, to remind you all that like with the other WADs that were split into episodes, this review will be split into four parts; each focusing on one episode. I do not expect to talk much in this review since Wonderful Doom aims to be a love letter to the original Doom and its fourth episode, and we already have a shit ton of stuff talking about that game to the point of making me wonder if there is still something to talk about.

But who knows? Let’s see what this MegaWAD has to offer.

PART 1

So starting with the first episode... well... it looks like the original Knee-Deep in the Dead in many places. While there are also many locations where it looks different or is layered differently, it still looks really uncanny. Like another case of if “Doom I” was created in a different timeline.

The same can be said about how you play these maps. And like in Phobos Revisited, it turns the concepts in many rooms upside down to some degree, without using the original secrets as mandatory locations (at least not is such a high degree).

The most memorable part of this episode was in the E1M5 clone, where unlike in the original Phobos Lab where you have to cross the pool of toxic slime at the very beginning, here you immediately get damaged by the floor unless you grab a nearby Rad Suit. That’s kind of a dickish move right here.

Changing the subject, yes, this episode is ridiculously easy. I guess it’s fair to say it’s harder than the original episode, but it was still a cakewalk, even when it had some cheap shots (like the one mentioned earlier). I wouldn’t be surprised if it was easier than the original episode if you pistol-started maps since there are items that weren’t in the OG like Berserk and Rocket Launcher in the E1M8 clone.

I haven’t encountered any bugs in this episode. Doomwiki talks about this stuff so you can check the site for the information about it. As for me, I don’t think I will be talking about bugs in the following episodes.

So... Wonderful Doom’s first episode was fun and it was a nice callback to the original game. Hopefully, the rest of it is as fun as this one.

See you next time.