================================================================ Title : The Cyberdemon's Realm Filename : ALBILLO.WAD Author : Valentin Albillo Email Address : albillo@mygale.org Description : I'm truly fond of Doom, since its original release a number of years ago to this date (03/98), despite the brand new, all bells- and-whistles 3D games like Duke Nukem, Quake, Quake II, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Rise of The Triad, Dark Forces, Tomb Raider, Exhumed, Shadow Warrior, Blood, etc, etc, etc. After playing hundreds (literally) of the very best Doom/Doom II levels, I decided to try my hand at writing my own, and here you have it: this original Doom (not Doom II) level is the result. Main features: - VERY large level, guaranteed to be one of the largest Doom levels you'll ever find. More than 400k for a single level, WITHOUT using any gimmick extras. - intended to be fun, not extremely difficult. This is no "Plutonia Experiment" only suitable for some Doom Gods. Try and find the correct skill level for you, there's one for sure. - optimized for speed: it includes a built-in REJECT resource with a 94% efficiency, for the fastest possible gameplay. - absolutely NO bugs: no HOM's, Medusa effects, tutti-frutti, tall walls, nothing. It's been thoroughly tested and it's bug-free. Besides, despite its size, you CAN save the game at any moment, it will not overflow the savegame buffer, as it happens with other large levels. - truly non-linear geometrically: there are many distinct, interconnected paths through the level. - truly non-linear strategically: there are several different ways to kill most of the big bosses. - extreme attention paid to detail: all textures aligned, lighting, illumination effects, aesthetically pleasing architecture and color combinations, etc - single player, cooperative (4 starts) and deathmatch (4 starts), plus all difficulty levels implemented: from a difficulty ratio of 0.605 at "I'm too young to die" (skill 1) to 1.476 at "Ultra-violence" (skill 4) - hundreds of enemies (more than 220) of all types for you to defeat, without being a continuous, brainless massacre: you'll have to stop and think a little from time to time. - all weapons included, all items, all power-ups, all keys are used and necessary to exit. - no dead-ends, all secret doors marked somehow, no obscure puzzles to ruin the fun, but expect pits, traps and some *very* nasty ambushes. - a complete test of your Doom abilities: you'll need speed, accuracy, reflexes, smarts, and at some places, a lot of balance, patience, and luck. - it *doesn't* include anything not found in the original Doom: new sounds, textures, dehack patches, special effects, etc. It tries to excel by its architecture, aesthetics, theme, and playability alone, using just original Doom elements, like >id< did in the first place. - and finally, it's a theme level. The theme is as follows: "At my early stages of Doom-playing, the most feared enemy was the Cyberdemon. I always found it very difficult to deal with it, and it took me quite a lot of time to defeat the first one. Then I began to think in how many possible ways could a Cyberdemon be killed. Of course, you could always kill it by brute force, in the open (say with a BFG-9000 or so), but after chewing it a while, I discovered several other interesting ways ..." That's the theme of this level. You'll enter the Cyberdemon's Realm. It's a huge, magnificent fortress, heavily guarded by hundreds of lesser monsters, where the Cyberdemon Kings rule. Your mission is to exterminate every one of them, and exit the fortress alive. You'll have to decide your strategy individually for each of the Cyberdemon Kings. Some you could try to kill using a powerful weapon. Some you could lead to a devious trap. Some you could turn their subdit monsters against them. Some you could fire at from a suitable shelter ... As you'll see, there is *more than one way* to kill them. It's up to you to decide how, and make the necessary arrangements. And be careful with your ammo. At the higher difficulty levels, you will have to think before shooting, or else risk being defenceless in the Realm ... " Included files : ALBILLO.WAD The level (Episode 2 level 1) ALBILLO.TXT *This* documentation text file ALBILLO.NFO Text file detailing all enemies, items, etc, at all skill levels, as well as a lot of statistics on the level and difficulty ratios. ALBILLO.THA Another different text file detailing a lot of information on the wad, generated with Yonatan Donner's Doom Things Analyzer program. His e-mail is: ruthd@post.tau.ac.il ALBILLO.BAT BAT file for starting DOOM at this level, Ultra-violence skill ALBILLO.LMP Ultra-violence demo completing the level from a pistol start with nearly 100% kills/secrets, courtesy of YONATAN DONNER (ruthd@post.tau.ac.il), one of the very best Doom players in the world. Many thanks, Yonatan ! ALBILLOS.LMP No-monsters demo, showing most of the secrets, items, and tricks in the level, as well as the location of all weapons and keys. Courtesy of Valentin Albillo. ALBILLO*.GIF Assorted screens To play the demos, use: - for the full demo at Ultra-Violence: doom -file ALBILLO.WAD -playdemo ALBILLO - for the no-monsters full walk demo: doom -file ALBILLO.WAD -playdemo ALBILLOS I would be **VERY** interested in getting other demos completing this level at any skill setting. In fact, to encourage you to try, I will send a free CD-R, created and compiled by myself, with a selection of free doom software to the 10 first persons who send me a legal, working LMP, completing my wad, at *any* skill level. The LMP *must* be recorded using Ultimate Doom v1.9 (and no other Doom engine), so that it replays on my machine without losing sync. For further details, and to avoid wasting your effort when already 10 people have submitted their LMPs, e-mail me previously at: albillo@mygale.org The exact content of the free CD may vary, but essentially will be: - a selection of the very best wads, megawads, total conversions (TCs), theme wads, etc, for Doom/Doom II, including ALBILLO.WAD :-) - a selection of the very best LMPs recorded for Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, and top megawads/TCs, such as Eternal, Icarus, Osiris, Hell Revealed, etc, at Ultra-Violence and/or Nightmare skill, including *YOUR* own LMP for ALBILLO.WAD :-) - a selection of FAQs, editors, graphic files, Doom newsgroups, etc - a selection of both source code and executables released freely to the public for the original Doom (Linux port), and its modifications: Boom (Team TNT), Legacy Doom, DosDoom, WinDoom, etc. Notice that they require a commercial DOOM.WAD to run, and that is *not* included on the CD-R, of course !! By the way, all material on the CD-R is either freeware or public domain, I do not claim any copyright on it nor on the compilation itself, and I do not charge anything at all for it, not even the cost of the media (CD-R), compilation, nor handling charges, etc. It will be created specifically as a compliment for your efforts in recording and sending the LMP. Period. If you intend to record the LMP, please e-mail me first, to make sure that you're still one of the 10 first people, or else, send it to me by e-mail at albillo@mygale.org. Any other comments or suggestions are welcomed as well. Thanks ! ================================================================ * Play Information * Game : Ultimate DOOM v1.9 May work with earlier versions, as it does not use any textures or elements of Episode 4, but not tested. Most probably it works with Doom 1.9. Earlier versions of Doom (say 1.2, etc) may not be able to cope with the very complex architecture at some places on the level. It definitely *doesn't* work with any shareware versions of Doom, as per >id< requests. Episode and Level # : Episode 2, level 1 Single Player : Yes, definitely ! Cooperative 2-4 Player : Yes, 4 starts (not tested, could be fun) Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes, 4 starts (not tested, probably far too large) Difficulty Settings : Yes, all (ratios: 0.605, 1.210, 1.347, 1.476) New Sounds : No New Graphics : No New Music : No Demos Provided: : ALBILLO.LMP (by Yonatan Donner, nearly 100% kills & secrets, played at Ultra-violence) ALBILLOS.LMP (by Valentin Albillo, shows most secrets & tricks, no monsters) * Construction * Base : New level from scratch Editor(s) used : DoomCAD 4.2 for designing the level BSP 12x for building the node tree RMB 3.0 for building the REJECT resource WADWHAT 1.1 for the level's info (see ALBILLO.NFO) Known Bugs : none at all, if run with Ultimate Doom 1.9 or Doom 1.9. Earlier versions may have trouble with the number of visplanes at some complex rooms. * Copyright / Permissions * This package is (c) Valentin Albillo, 1998, and it's freeware. Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional levels or as part of a megawad. A credit line in your info file would be appreciated. You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include all files in this package, with no modifications or deletions. You MAY distribute this package in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include the whole ZIP or equivalent intact. Also, you MAY use it for any purpose whatsoever, even as part of a commercial package, megawad, compilation, sales promotion, or marketing product of any kind. The only thing you should not do is claim you wrote it, or try to restrict its free availability. * Where to get this WAD * If you are reading this, it's pretty sure you already have the wad, but if that's not the case, you can find it at: FTP sites: ftp.cdrom.com That failing, e-mail me at albillo@mygale.org and I'll send it to you as an e-mail attachment, via ftp, or any other suitable electronic way. * How to use this WAD * Unzip ALBILLO.ZIP in your DOOM sub-directory. At the DOS prompt type: DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD and select New Game, Episode 2, and your desired difficulty level. Or else, to directly enter into the level at Ultra-violence skill, use the included BAT file, just type: ALBILLO and press [Enter] If you want to have a look at the demos (recommended *ONLY* when you have at least tried to play the level on your own for some time), type either: DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD -PLAYDEMO ALBILLO for the complete demo at Ultra-violence from a pistol start with nearly 100% kills & secrets (courtesy of world-class player Yonatan Donner), or else DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD -PLAYDEMO ALBILLOS for the no-monsters demo which shows most secrets and the location of all weapons and all keys, as well as most of the level, including the exit. CAVEAT EMPTOR: Be warned that seeing these demos should best be left till you have played the level a lot. Else you risk spoiling most of the surprises and the enjoyment ... None of this will modify your game in any way, it will only temporarily replace your Episode 2 level 1 with this wad while playing it. Any comments (albillo@mygale.org) will be GREATLY appreciated :-) Enjoy! Valentin Albillo March 5, 1998