H2H-XMAS UV MAX DEMOPACK

Released 23-Dec-2003

For the Doom 2 megawad H2H-Xmas by the H2H Gaming Network

File required: H2H-XMAS.WAD
Download link: ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/themes/xmas/h2h-xmas.zip

Maps 01-32

Skill: UV Max

Recorded with PrBoom 2.2.4 (-complevel 1 or 0) or PrBoom 2.2.3 (-complevel 1).
PrBoom download link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/prboom

Also plays back with Eternity 3.31 beta 4 (and doubtless other recent Eternity betas, but only beta 4 is tested).
Eternity download link: http://www.doomworld.com/eternity/etcengine.html

Most of the demos play back OK with Doom2.exe (thanks to myk for verifying many of these). The exceptions are the map22 demo, which desyncs near the start, and map21, where Doom2.exe crashes part way through.


Description: UV Max demos for all 32 maps of this classic megawad. H2H-Xmas is one of my personal favourites, and I seem to replay it each year around Christmas. Four of the maps were used in the "H2HMud International Doomers Competition" in 1995. On those maps I merely tried to record an acceptable-quality demo, rather than try to get near the winning times, which would have required a phenomenal amount of effort to say the least. To see the winning demos, download 1st-lmps.zip (from ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/lmps/H2HMud/1st-lmps.zip), but note that these demos will not play back OK with the Xmas wad (even if you change the map numbers with LMPC) - presumably there was a node rebuild. The wad to use to watch them is H2HMudFE (link: ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/lmps/H2HMud/H2HMudFE.zip), and in some cases they only play back correctly with Doom2.exe.

Map17 route credit to Lawrence Kirby.


How to Watch the Demos

These demos can be watched using prboom (or the OpenGL version, glboom) or Eternity. You can also use doom2.exe, but note that the map21 and map22 demos will not work. If you use Doom2.exe, you will need to use deusf to append sprites to the wad. This is not necessary if using a port - the wad can be used direct from the zip file you downloaded.

I have included a batch file (XmasLmps.bat), which plays each of the demos in order using prboom. It also provides a little information about each demo which you can read before watching it. Feel free to edit this batch file (e.g. replace "playdemo" with "timedemo" if you want to speed things up) or to split it up into smaller files. The batch file should work OK as long as all the lmp files, your iwad (doom2.wad) and the pwad (h2h-xmas.wad) are all in the same folder.

I have also included batch files to watch the demos in GLboom (XmasLmGL.bat) and Eternity (XmasLmEt.bat).

Comments on individual maps/demos (duplicates those in the batch file).

Map01: "Terminal" by Geezus (Eric Spry)
Time: 1:00. A normal sort of map01 from a gameplay viewpoint: small enemies and small weapons. Two imps need two shotgun shots and I waste one rocket, but overall I'm quite happy with this demo.

Map02: "Security" by Geezus (Eric Spry)
Time: 4:41. A surprisingly tough map so early on - there's a bloodcurdling moment when the archie and a pack of revenants are released.

Map03: "Hanger" by Geezus (Eric Spry)
Time: 2:40. I like this map - it has an unusual feel to it.

Map04: "The Sewers" by Geezus (Eric Spry)
Time: 1:36. Short and sweet. The plasma gun grab isn't strictly necessary though. :)

Map05: "More Sewers" by Geezus (Eric Spry)
Time: 3:45. A messy one, where once more we face hordes of bad guys.

Map06: "Water Works" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 3:20. Fairly straightforward, as long as you don't forget a secret area.

Map07: "Valve House" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 8:39. A more complex map. Towards the end I make quite a serious mistake, and leave myself with no ammo and in a right spot. Still, I think it makes the demo more entertaining, even if it does lose some time.

Map08: "Outskirts" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 2:16. I'm quite happy with this. It's easy for monsters to go astray, and the archies normally prove more troublesome.

Map09: "The High Rise" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 5:57. An interesting map. Quite a mix of themes and ideas, but I like it.

Map10: "City Hall" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 7:14. Another nice map, though I'm not too proud of this demo. :(

Map11: "Main Mall" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 2:10. A well-balanced and violent map; I am almost out of ammo at the end.

Map12: "The Court Yard" by H2HMud Wad Team: Dave Swift, EvilGenius (Jimmy Sieben), Tree (Greg Lewis), Mark Gundy and H2HMud
Time: 15:14. This was one of the H2H contest maps, and the craziest in terms of revenant population, and the need to use the rocket launcher on them at close quarters. The winning time in the contest was 8:03 - no way I could get even close to that without a phenomenal number of tries and masses of luck. Not to mention talent. :)

Map13: "Town Square" by Dave Swift
Time: 2:13. Masses of health and ammo make this quite an easy run, but fun nonetheless.

Map14: "Mini Malls" by H2HMud Wad Team: Dave Swift, EvilGenius (Jimmy Sieben), Tree (Greg Lewis), Mark Gundy and H2HMud
Time: 16:57. Another contest map. Fewer revenants than in map12, but I found it harder to get to grips with them. The winning time in the contest was 7:52(!).

Map15: "Urban Jungle" by H2HMud Wad Team: Dave Swift, EvilGenius (Jimmy Sieben), Tree (Greg Lewis), Mark Gundy and H2HMud
Time: 5:06. Another contest map, but the amount of megaspheres and invulnerabilities make it quite fun to run through it at speed. Winning contest time: 3:24.

Map16: "Santa Co" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 1:48. A cute map - note the vehicles. I miss a few shots and make an annoying error just before the exit, but the monsters behave themselves quite well here.

Map17: "Chopping Mall" by H2HMud Wad Team: Dave Swift, EvilGenius (Jimmy Sieben), Tree (Greg Lewis), Mark Gundy and H2HMud
Time: 6:26. The last of the contest maps, and one where it is important to know exactly what triggers what. My route in the early stages just shamelessly copies that of the contest winner (Lawrence Kirby; his time: 4:45).

Map18: "Stair Master" by Zeek (Zack Lawson)
Time: 1:31. An odd map, where we find ourselves in some sort of stadium. And a fight breaks out between two big bruisers. Somehow my health stayed positive.

Map19: "Round-a-bout" by Pavel Hodek
Time: 2:07. I'm happy with this demo. The early stages go very well (1% health for a while!), and while the mopping-up is a bit untidy, it could be much worse.

Map20: "Hotel Hell" by Zeek (Zack Lawson)
Time: 4:58. Sneaking up next to the cyber is actually much easier than it looks. The demo isn't too bad, but suffers from some poor map knowledge here and there.

Map21: "Loading Docks" by Faust (Scott Parish)
Time: 5:32. My route here relies on monster cooperation, which leads inevitably to some messiness, most notably in the crate room. Incidentally, this is the only crate-heavy map in H2H-Xmas. Note that Doom2.exe crashes when playing this demo on my computer.

Map22: "Elf-Town" by Lizard (David Reid)
Time: 6:21. I like this map, but for Max it is a bit annoying, as there is one imp in particular that can end up pretty much anywhere, and thus ruin a demo single-handed. I was very lucky in this run, as it got stuck on a doortrack. Note that this demo desyncs early on with Doom2.exe.

Map23: "Elf-Town Revisited" by BullyBoy (Chris Byrns)
Time: 3:48. An excellent map: simple, violent and intense. I have a few wobbly moments in this demo, and spend time collecting more plasma than I need, but fun anyway.

Map24: "Working Hard" by Dave Swift
Time: 4:00. A very interesting and challenging map. It has a nasty 99% kills bug though. :) It is possible to grab the plasma gun and rocket launcher from their pedestals, but I didn't bother since you still need to revisit those areas later to trigger the secrets.

Map25: "Santa's Shop" by Cthulu (Eric Searle)
Time: 2:44. An outdoor snow scene and a near rocket-suicide (the spectre was wearing armour or something). What more could you want?

Map26: "Elf's House" by ArcadeMan (Mike Wayne)
Time: 3:13. A tight and violent map. Some lovely red-screen near the start, but somehow (i.e. pure luck) I kept my footing.

Map27: "Living in Sin" by DoomMan (Rhett Farinholt)
Time: 4:27. This map would be very straightforward if it weren't for the small amount of ammo. I slightly overdo the infighting here, but it is very easy to run out of ammo with a few monsters left to kill.

Map28: "Main Office" by Dave Swift
Time: 4:40. Kind of a prolonged mopping-up task, where it is important not to lose your bearings too much.

Map29: "Main Branch" by Dave Swift
Time: 3:02. A really great blast-fest, with enough power-ups to make it fun rather than an ordeal. Shame I couldn't get it under 3 minutes, but I couldn't restrain the urge to spend a few seconds checking for missed monsters. This map is almost identical to DG-CORE.WAD in H2H-pack.zip (link: ftp://3darchives.in-span.net/pub/idgames/lmps/H2HMud/admin/H2H-pack.zip).

Map30: "The North Pole" by SillySoft (Joe Wilcox)
Time: 2:25. An odd map30: the boss shooter and boss brain have no impact on gameplay, but are presumably meant to represent presents being sent out in all directions from the North Pole.

Map31: "The Lot" by Zeek (Zack Lawson)
Time: 4:07. This proved quite tricky for two reasons. Firstly, it wasn't easy finding a strategy to deal with the archies and barons. Secondly, there is a nasty bug in this map, where if you cross one of two very short linedefs, the map sort of disintegrates, and you can't exit.

Map32: "Prison" by Vertigo (?)
Time: 7:16. A messy supersecret map, with lots of hidden passages. I kept getting 99% kills before I noticed there was a Keen in a very dimly-lit area.


Graham "Grazza" Burgess
GKBurgess@compuserve.com
