Doomed Speed Demos Archive
<http://www.doomworld.com/sda/doom_sda.htm>

filename: DARKH?NA.LMP (? = 1-9)
WAD	: Darkhell.wad by Greytale
game	: Doom
level	: E2M1-E2M9 (Shores of Hell)
skill	: Ultra-Violence
options	: fast
category: Max (100% everything, except those marked with *)
setup   : PIII-850 /Razer Boomslang 2000 + Keyboard

Together with Forest.wad this is one of the very first 
PWADs I played, so it always held special meaning for me. 
Time to pay homage to the days gone by! (^8

E2M1 - Dark Dome Stairs   6:42*
Highly idiosyncratic design: weird texture/flat choice, 
crazy lights blinking on and off ... May be one of the 
author's first levels, and probably the one that prompted 
Dennis Moeller to dump it into the Bad Wads pile in one 
of his TiC WAD reviews.
Still fun though. Too bad you can only get 80% secrets, 
because the doorway to the teleporter to the exit (the 
one behind the Cacos and the red key) won't give you a 
secret credit for some reason. The ammo and health are 
somewhat exessive, too; but not to the ridiculous Fiffian 
degree, hehehe.

E2M2 - Grey Halls of Blood   6:45
The opening scene is nothing short of spectacular, IMO. 
For once, Greytale's unconventional approach to texturing 
unexpectedly pays off. The gameplay improves too.
It's worth mentioning that, somewhat streamlined, this 
map was included in Heroes.wad super-compilation by Al 
Dewey (as E2M1).

E2M3 - Holy Moly!  3:50
A rather dumb board, this. With hundreds of baddies (and 
their projectiles!) flashing in and out of view, you 
can't help wondering if the author time-warped to 1998 
and snagged Boom (or another limitless source port) to 
playtest this baby with ... 
Wait, did I say "playtest"? Muahahahahahahah! ... sorry.
Nice fireworks though :)

E2M4 - Forest of Armour   4:32
Simplicity itself. Nice and easy. And yes, your armor does 
reach an interesting figure if you're playing this with 
v1.2 or earlier ...

E2M5 - Silver Mirror   6:24
The author is getting better all the time. The silver/
aluminum theme is very well implemented, IMO and the level 
looks simply terrific! Perfect gameplay too, two thumbs up.
Dennis Moeller would be kicking himself for the "dumb, ugly" 
verdict he slapped the WAD with so soon :P.

E2M6 - BEWARE   13:07*
It's to this is the level that I'd like to draw attention 
of all those who swear by Doom] [ and look down on Doom 1 
with disdain. Here's the complexity and beauty of Oracle.wad 
with none of the Doom2 Overload (tm).

OK, so Oracle looks more polished and Greytale gets carried 
away with his crazy textures even here sometimes. One of the 
13 (!) secrets is ungettable due to (once again) a doorway 
not being deep enough (in the demo, I chainsaw the offending 
doorjambs  la Maikl, his way of pointing things out heheh), 
so only 92% secrets here ... Still, it's a beauty and truly 
a labor of love. Play it and weep. :)

E2M7 - Ankh Cliffs   9:31
Tricky, tricky level! As with its predecessor, Beware, there 
are many ways to do this one and it can take a while to find 
the _right_ one. 
The demo can still be improved some (considering how bad I 
suck at strafe-runs over narrow ledges),but I was happy to 
bring this sucker under ten minutes - woohoo :)

E2M8 - Tower of Demons   (n/a, approx. 5:10)
At first, I thought this one was impossible, what with the 
tons of rockets and cells and no RL or Plasma Rifle/BFG. But 
it actually proved easier than the last Eternity map. I'm sure 
the oublic will love the Demon melee, too, a lousy Tyson as I 
am heheheh.

E2M9 - Blood Cells   8:54
Another great level. Wish there were fewer cells/powerups and 
a couple more Cybers :>. Gotta love those long hallway shootouts!


Never_Again
tpoppins@juno.com