
John Romero has released his first Doom level in over two decades - Impossible
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/263642/John_Romero_just_released_his_first_Doom_level_in_over_two_decades.php
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some-guy
All of the Daikatana and Ion Storm jokes aside, what Romero was able to
achieve from a level-design perspective in 1993 with Doom, given that such an
engine had never existed before, was pretty mind-boggling.

I wish I had a chance to take game design classes with him now that he's a
professor at my alma-mater (UC Santa Cruz), especially after seeing his
walkthrough of Knee-Deep In The Dead on YouTube recently[0].

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU7_BthBWM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU7_BthBWM)

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sdevlin
Double Fine's Devs Play series might be interesting to you. The first season
includes a bunch of videos featuring John Romero talking about Doom. Here's a
playlist:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd6u2akeZZdY...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIhLvue17Sd6u2akeZZdYVBxNtfWZPm5W).

There are also a few videos where a guy does some live ROM-hacking on the
original Zelda.

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archagon
I really miss the old school of FPS design, where you have hub-based levels
that branch out into a bunch of different areas and eventually loop back on
themselves. I haven't seen a game using one of those in many years, with the
possible exception of the Rise of the Triad reboot.

Maybe these granddaddy designers should get together for a few more games. In
my opinion, the advent of linear, cinematic FPSes have ground design work in
the genre to a halt. Nowadays, it's all about refining the core game loop and
adding eye candy at the expense of broader level design and environmental
exploration. Last year, I went back to play Duke Nukem 3D and it was as fun as
ever; can't say the same for many of the FPSes that came out over the last
decade.

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colechristensen
I would like a game that is neither a hallway to walkdown (albeit twisted) nor
a flat open plane with objects on it.

That is, complex geometry and architecture that seems like it wasn't just
designed for the current mission; an open world that isn't full of doors that
don't open and windows that don't break. I want a million functionally
unnecessary ways to do things.

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bitwize
I recall a Doom II level that created, as much as was possible with the
engine, a "downtown" feeling (it may have been simply called "Downtown"). Many
of the buildings were enterable, monsters could shoot you or lob fireballs at
you from the windows, etc. In some ways a richer and more interesting design
than even the "huge city full of textured solid parallepipeds" that many "open
world" games feature.

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camgunz
It is "Downtown", yeah. One of my favorites :)

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nailer
Having wanted to finish the WAD before commenting:

It's excellent. Not just the technical bits: all the textures perfectly
aligned, lots of tight indoors/outdoors, etc., but how Romero uses just a few
shotgun guys, pinky and imps for most of the damage. You _don 't_ need
Cyberdemons everywhere or a hundred bad guys on screen at once, you can get by
with clever teleports.

Quite a few times I fell back, hearing the teleports behind me, then realised
I needed to fall back more because multiple stuff was coming from multple
directions now.

I still didn't get the rocket launcher behind the monitor/poison symbol.

Mac users: I recommend Doomsday Engine, and the Doom High Res Texture pack:
[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/k67w2ezieodzmap/index.ht...](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/k67w2ezieodzmap/index.html)

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spitfire
> I still didn't get the rocket launcher behind the monitor/poison symbol.

Where was this? I missed it altogether.

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nailer
Near the high area with windows, and the room with the boxes. there's a
indented monitor in the wall.

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spitfire
ahh. I see now. Still don't see a poison pill just "TCI Tenor".

Here it is. You go down into the slime area accessed by the room with boxes.
Stepping outside triggers a door beside the blue key, on the back of the
elevator you just came down, to open/close. So step outside, allow the door to
close then run inside and hit the switch.

The elevator to your left will descend and you can get the rocket launcher.

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tobr
A bit off topic, but JP LeBreton, who is mentioned in the article, is also
making a very interesting looking ASCII game. I can recommend his video devlog
where he shows some of the tools he's made to create the game, e.g.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syFT1cZF_w8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syFT1cZF_w8)

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AdmiralAsshat
I wonder what engine he'll use to demo the finished wad? Will he stick with
the Classic Win95 Doom engine, or using something more modern like jDoom?

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godzillabrennus
This is what makes Hacker News great. I'm learning that Doom has new game
engines for the old game files from someone who uses the alias AdmiralAsshat.

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anonbanker
> what makes Hacker News great.

you spelled "reddit" wrong there.

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pervycreeper
From the readme:

>My previous Doom levels were made in 1995 for The Ultimate Doom (e4m2, e4m6),
so this is a warm-up.

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anjc
Cool guy who influenced entertainment and technology greatly. Everyone should
read Masters of Doom.

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rincebrain
I mistook this for being about John Carmack on first pass, and was both
extremely excited and extremely confused.

Having corrected this, I am still moderately excited and slightly confused.

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__david__
Wow, this is a pretty tough level! I'm liking it so far.

It works really well so far in the Doomsday Engine, which runs pretty great on
my Macbook.

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henrikschroder
Obligatory Penny Arcade: [https://www.penny-
arcade.com/comic/1998/11/25](https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1998/11/25)

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ascagnel_
[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/1999/11/22/](https://www.penny-
arcade.com/comic/1999/11/22/) is more apt.

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JustSomeNobody
Sigh. I feel so old right now.

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PopsiclePete
40-somethings get momentarily nostalgic and excited!

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TheOtherHobbes
50-somethings turn on God Mode and go sight-seeing, with a bit of mayhem.

