Alien Vendetta: Black Label Bradford Spencer bsp1024@protonmail.com =========================================================================== Vitals: Replaces : Doom2, MAP01-MAP02 Also requires av.wad http://www.doom2.net/av/av.zip Port : Vanilla compatible. Single Player : Yes Cooperative 2-4 Player : Yes Deathmatch 2-4 Player : Yes, at your own risk Difficulty Settings : Yes Sounds : No Music : Yes, by Jimmy - http://jamespaddockmusic.com Graphics : Yes Dehacked/BEX Patch : Map title for ports that support dehacked lumps Thanks : The authors of the various tools I used; DoomBuilder 2, Slade3, Whacked4 Huge thanks to testers: *MAP01 - Johnsen, Martin, Chris Hansen, Alex Adolphsen, dew *MAP02 - Johnsen, Martin, dew =========================================================================== MAP01: Levenbrech Story: You find yourself in what used to be a village. It looks like the original inhabitants tried to fortify themselves in, even successfully for a time. But the engine of Hell never ceases... we all know what became of them, leaving you with a clear objective. Completed 01/15/2015 - My spin on what an AV map would look like if made today. Takes most of its cues from Memento Mori map28. MAP02: Valley of Echoes Story: Hidden and protected in the mountains lies a site known to few. A dark presence still moves within, ever vigilant of the approach - they will be ready for you. But why this place? What is hidden behind these walls? Completed 07/31/2016 - A re-interpretation of one of my favorite maps from AV, which was also cut from the final release. While it has had a major facelift and reorganization, most of the core ideas remain. I hope fans of the original are satisfied! Johnsen: It's an odd thing how the one map we replaced in the second release of Alien Vendetta never really went away. Over the years, the original AV release has been mostly forgotten - still people kept asking what happened to the "lost map", wondering why it was replaced. "Valley of Echoes" originally filled the 25th slot and made the third episode even more exhausting than it is now. It was one of my earlier creations, probably built in 1997/98. I updated it several times during the initial production of AV, and the first gameplay layout was way harder than what ended up in the release (as crazy as that may sound, since it's generally considered one of the hardest maps of the first release). The basic idea behind it was to take inspiration from two of my favorite maps - Doom2 Map26 "The Abandoned Mines" By John Romero, and Plutonia Map15 "The Twilight" by Milo Casali (which in turn is also a Map26 tribute I'd say), and combine it with a sprawling canyon. I might have taken some slight inspiration from the huge outdoor areas found in some of the industrial maps of TNT: Evolution, as well as the canyon maps of Duke Nukem 3d. The map name is derived from a location in Filmation's "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" episode 124 - "The Toymaker", where He-Man and friends venture into the dreaded Valley of Echoes in pursuit of the villain. Unfortunately the map rubbed me the wrong way shortly after our initial release. Not only did it contribute to a complete overkill in the last act since it sat in the middle of several other huge maps, but it was also too simplistic, over-scaled and tacky gameplay wise. You felt worn out from playing it, and it offered few fun fights. Never a good sign if you aim for replayability. I was a bit surprised that we were met with mixed opinions upon axing it, since I figured most players would be happy to see VOE go, and the new map we replaced it with was such a huge step up in quality - a co-effort between the masterful Anthony Soto and Lee Szymanski. When Brad Spencer decided to make his take of VOE some 15 years later, I felt both honored and surprised. I was also very happy with the result. He somehow managed to preserve the best ideas from the map while creating something purely his own. If this was the original version it would definitely have been a part of Alien Vendetta today. This is head and shoulders above my take on it, yet it echoes some of the spirit of the original, which I suspect was Brad's goal. =========================================================================== Do not modify the maps without attributing credit to the authors Music Permissions: map01 - "Desecrated Village" (D_RUNNIN) is a midi originally created for "Scattered Evil", copyright to the author (James "Jimmy" Paddock). Used here under permission. map02 - "Incan-tations" (D_STALKS) is a NON-EXCLUSIVE commissioned work, copyright to the author (James "Jimmy" Paddock), all rights reserved. It is free for use, but out of courtesy, it is strongly recommended that you seek the commissioner's permission (Bradford Spencer) before using the track for your own purposes/projects.