Forgotten Base: Flooded area sends you to the decaying corridors of an abandoned base. Large parts of the facility are flooded - maybe it's a deep sea base is slowly but steadily being consumed by the waves or maybe the cooling system has finally sprung a leak. This is where a fearless group of space marines land their feet on and the fragfest begins!File name: fbase.wad Author: Tanar Map Size: medium Map Summary: Brick'n'metal themed forgotten UAC base. (Excerpted from fbase.txt)
You might've heard of Tanar before but he isn't exactly a well-known level designer. He is planning to make a CTF mod for ZDoom when Doomscript finally comes out and he has made a Zdoom frontend named Bloodsplash. However, I didn't know anything about him when I first got fbase.wad so I had no idea of what to expect. When I first time scouted around this level a bit I noticed the reasonable use of some very nice ZDoom/Boom special effects that really make the athmosphere of an abandoned base. The main arena where players will basically gather after getting some weapons to shoot with seemed like a place where only the most skilled would survive and which would give a fighting chance even for those who are taken by surprise.
A malfunctioning lamp that utilizes ZDoom particle effects is the first thing you see.
Tanar has done a good job on the architechture, although nothing spectacular. Rooms are detailed but not too detailed meaning that even slower computers can run this wad. This is not a completely symmetric level and that does make it a little difficult to navigate at first, but you'll soon figure it out. The center of the map is an area where most of the fighting will probably take place. The weapon placement in the main arena is worth mentioning, weapons are placed inside four gates that also provide some cover on the otherwise open area. I said that the special effects more or less make the map's athmosphere. A malfunctioning lamp, swimmable water, waving water and some translucent computer terminals can be found. There is but one thing missing. Some ambience would've enchanced the atmosphere even further.
The lighting is detailed enough but it could've been smoother.
The main arena. Notice those four gates and the weapons placed inside them.
I bet you're real anxious to know what you'll be fighting with here. Chainguns and Shotguns are the basic weapons you'll find all around the main arena. Take a little walk around the surroundings and you'll also be able to grab a rocket launcher, Super shotgun, Chaisaw and a plasma rifle. No BFG so you'll just have to rely on your skills ;). Everyone will be running for the more powerful weapons most of the time, of course, but you'll be able to grab something even if you're taken by surprise. I would say that the weapon placement is in no-way careless but doesn't really offer anything new either. There's lots of ammo lying around everywhere so you don't have to fear running out of shells or whatever. fbase.wad is clearly designed to be played in alternate deathmatch mode. So what about other items? A berserk pack, a medi-kit and some stim packs exist. Also, a standard armor for your protection. Finally on skill levels 1-3 there's a megasphere in the center of the level. Again not careless, but nothing new either.
The rocketlauncher can be found here. Nice windows in the ceiling.
Then on to the bad things. Some corridors have architechture to get stuck on and that of course may make you swear a little at times =). The gameplay differs quite a lot from most maps nowadays as there's plenty of ammo. Bots have trouble with the swimmable water and they perform rather badly. On the other hand, Flooded Area might be a bit large for playing on the Internet as I felt that the minimum number of players is really four. When playing with less than four players the game becomes either hunting or you must meet your adversaries in the center of the map. I consider that type of game pretty boring but some may like it, of course. On the whole Flooded Area is an excellent DM map for a LAN party. While not sporting any never before seen architechture it does use some ZDoom effects in an original way. You'll have fun with this one, but only with four players or more.
Review by Warlock
The Doom DM Resource Recommends:Get Forgotten Base: Flooded Area from Tanar's website.4+ players Altdeath Play it on LAN