As the map name shows, it's obvious that this level was meant to be a conversion of the Quake2 deathmatch level, Q2dm1. For those of you not familiar with Quake2 (shame on you!), Q2dm1 was part of a series of 6 deathmatch levels that were included with the game and ready to play right out of the box. It was a large and roaming type of map, which ideally suited it to Quake2's large mutiplayer games and relaxed player speeds. Dizzying heights also made navigating the map a dangerous affair, which helped keep players on their toes.File name: q2dm1.wad Author: Mike Tawney Map Size: Large Map Summary: "The Edge is probably THE best Quake2 deathmatch level in the opinions of MANY. Its weapons placement, non-linear atmosphere, and generally rusted and rotten look makes it an ideal deathmatch level." (Excerpted from Q2dm1.txt)
Now thanks to Zdoom, Doom also currently sports many of the features previously only available from its newer cousins, includng the ability to handle bigger and more complicated maps. Mike Tawney of RageDM fame took upon himself the task of showing off what Zdoom can do, and brought to us this very good conversion of Q2dm1.
How good can a straight conversion be? Granted, the underlying concept behind a conversion is that originality isn't the primary focus; rather, a good conversion seeks to capture all the good qualities the original had, while introducing some new elements to give it a fresh twist. Without this twist, it would just make more sense to play the original, rather than bother with the conversion.
How to get that BFG?
It's not as hard as you think.
Fortunately, Q2dm1 for Zdoom is all an ideal conversion should be. Upon starting the map, anyone familiar with the original Q2dm1 will instantly recognize their surroundings. The large arena in the center and the outlying rooms are all recreated faithfully, and everything feels to scale with the original. Surprisingly enough, even the multi-story structure of the map was recreated as well! Using a very convincing 3-d bridge effect, the author made every effort to give the feeling of height and space, which was a big part of the map's sprawling atmosphere. Weapons placement is also close to the original, as was texture usage and lighting.
It's a long way down.
What makes this map stand apart however is that the author did not stop there. Teleporters spew ethereal particles, and clouds drift along through a sun-burnt sky. There is an option to play with Doom-optimized weapons placement, and the map comes with some really rocking MOD music. He also makes an effort to compensate for the water tunnel in the original Q2dm1 by just having players teleport there, which is as good a solution as any considering Doom's limitations.
Yeah, I was walking...under
an atomic sky...
This map does have some problems, but these annoy rather than frustrate. The fact that this is a conversion means that it brings both the strengths and weaknesses of the original to bear. While the Doomguy's player speed is far faster than that of the Quake2 guy, you can't but help feel sometimes that you're not moving very fast. Again, this is in part to the map's scope and bias towards large mutliplayer games. As such you'll need plenty of people to have a fast paced game, which will be difficult to accomplish until Zdoom can optimize its TCP/IP play. It's also easy to get stuck in the water area when the lag is high, and the same goes for the 3-d bridges. The problem with the 3-d bridges though can be attributed to the way Zdoom works, so this is excusable.
Nitpicking aside, Q2dm1 is a very enjoyable and well-conceived conversion. The bottom line? Q2dm1 is a very cool map, using loads of special effects and clever architecture to bring you a deathmatch experience like no other.
Review by Razorback
The Doom DM Resource Recommends:Get Q2DM1 from Mike Tawney's homepage.4 or more players Skill setting of five (More weapons and ammo for better play with Doom) LAN play Music cranked high with bass set to max:)
Want to use Zdoom's railgun with Q2DM1? Download this file and follow the enclosed instructions.