Doom WADs U


UAC_DEAD.ZIP

Title
Dooms day of UAC ver 1.0 (FINAL)
Filename
UAC_DEAD.ZIP containing UAC_DEAD.WAD
Size
145Kb
Author
Leo Martin Lim
Email Address
leo@cae.wisc.edu / gendut@aol.com

Play Information

Game
DOOM I (relies on a Doom 1 effect at the end)
Episode and Level
E1M8
Modes
Single/Co-op/Deathmatch
Difficulty Settings
Yes
New resources
New Graphics
Demos Provided
None

Construction

Base
New level from scratch
Editor(s) used
DEU 5.21 GCC, BSP 1.1x, REJECT 1.0
Bugs Found
The level cannot be completed - see review. WinDEU reported a host of errors, but I think these were all to do with the special effects in the PWAD (I don't know enough about them, but it looked clean during play). I did notice one or two slight display glitches - could have been a NODES problem, but I don't know; nothing major anyway. The level is slow in some areas, but since the REJECT is built it is not too bad.

Other Info

Copyright/Permissions
Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional levels provide you credit me with creating the original level and that you say the level you've made is a modified version of my original level. You MAY extract any part/idea or any derivatives of its kind from this level and put it in your level, provided that you credit my name in your .txt distribution. You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file, with no modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.
Where to get this WAD
ftp.cdrom.com, infant2.sphs.indiana.edu, wuarchive.wustl.edu, ftp.uwp.edu, AOL: PCGAMES forum

The Review

UAC_DEAD is a classic WAD. In many of the levels I have downloaded, the authors mention that they saw UAC_DEAD, or used ideas from it. I has received many good reviews, and I was looking forward to seeing it.

Almost from the start UAC_DEAD overwhelms you with its sheer size. Imagine an ordinary PWAD, but where someone accidentally turned the grid size up 2 steps while making it in Deu, and you get an idea of how huge everything is. Doors are 2-3 times their normal width (the texture repeats horizontally).

The starting courtyard is very impressive. A new sky texture has been imported, which is of a night sky - the author has wisely avoided the usual mistake people of making the stars too bright, and the starry sky adds great atmosphere to the outdoor areas of the level. You start inside what turns out to be an overturned truck; from outside you can see the wheels spinning, and the engine burning.

This level has many nice features like this. Some of the rooms are very impressive. There is a particularly good set of dark tunnels toward the end - the author has made the red walls flicker in the torchlight, giving a very spooky feel (this area is made more oppressive since it doesn't show up on the map - kind of a pain since the map is for areas like this).

There is also a wonderful room with a staircase in the air, which looks very impressive - this must be one of the earliest uses of special effects in a PWAD I think. The screenshot can not do this room justice - the flickering lights and detail have to be seen in action to be really appreciated.

However, many areas at this level suffer from being too large. The author struggles to fill the space in some of the rooms. There are lots of texture misalignments, though usually these are small compared with the huge rooms.

This level really breaks up into 3 phases in play. The first fight is good, as you battle with limited weapons against the many enemies in the main yard. You then find a large cache of ammo, a backpack, and a rocket launcher. Given these weapons, most of the rest of the level is relatively straight-forward; the rooms are mostly so large the opposition are swamped. For instance, one room contains half a dozen cacodemons, a dozen imps, and a baron - but the room before it is the size of a small aircraft hangar, so you have lots of room to dodge and get them fighting each other. Even so, there are still some exceptionally good fights, even if they are not too hard.

The last section of the level consists of fighting a cyberdemon and a couple of barons. The room is one of the smaller rooms at the level, but given the BFG and loads of cells there is plenty of space to kill the cyber. However, this area has a major bug, since the keycard is not made available when you kill the cyberdemon - this leaves you trapped and unable to complete the level. I have seen somewhere that this is a problem with later Doom versions. You will have to cheat to get the key.

Anyway, once you have killed the cyberdemon the level is pretty much over anyway. There is a very nice exit area, with a space shuttle on a runway; the area is virtually empty though, so is a bit of an anticlimax.

Difficulty
5
Size
8
Architecture
7
Interest
7
Overall
7

A truly classic PWAD.