================================================================ System Administrator: This is a re-release of Earth.wad. The original release has disappeared off the ftp.cdrom.com site and at least several of the mirror sites that I checked. It appears that there has been some confusion with a June 1998 release of a PWAD called Earth1, which appears to have accidently replaced my older release. Please restore my PWAD, Earth.wad (without deleting what is now Earth1.zip). The original release was in mid-1997 under Earth.zip, or possibly earth1.zip, and I have had some recent inquires about it (which is what prompted me to discover it was missing). Roger Ritenour Title : Earth Filename : Earth.wad Author : Roger Ritenour Emale Address : ritenour@mail.comet.net Description : Ten level episode replacement for first episode of Hell on Earth. Story Line : You arrive on earth to find it subverted by savage aliens. Your point of arrival is a rocky coastline with rolling surf: Levels: The Ruins (MAP01): You stand facing out to sea with rolling breakers splasing on the rocks. Behind you are the ruins of civilization, haunted with alien hellspawn. Seek the Sword of Damocles... The Tomb (MAP02): To have hope of freeing the world, you must take back the one place the enemy considers special... Mines of Moria (MAP03): Like its Lord of the Rings namesake, it is crawling with evil things... The Chasm (MAP04): The enemy is bivouacked in rugged coastal terrain. You mission is to clear them out... Strategic Defense Command (MAP05): A deep underground command and control center, one of the last great hopes for mankind in repelling the alien invasion. However, it seems to be off line, You need to find out why... Observation Station (MAP06): This place has seen some action before it fell to the enemy. Beware!... The Emerald Tower (MAP07): Your mission is to capture the Emerald Tower. Short, sweet, and relatively easy!?!... Ammo Pit (MAP08): This is the domain of the arch-vile. Trick him into helping you... Islands (MAP09): You arrive on an rocky island in a rugged fjord. Out to sea and somewhat up the coast is another, larger island that you must somehow reach... The Hill (MAP10): You must capture a heavily defended hill. Then home at last! You arrive in your comfortable penthouse suite where you end the episode... Combat : These levels contain a wide variety of combat situations requiring different strategies. To win these levels, especially at the more difficult skill settings, requires thinking in terms of fields of fire, looking out for your flanks and backside, and keeping open lines of retreat. Most of the monster placement is randomized so that their location and response are different each time these levels are played. Hence, you will be unable to count on finding specific monsters at specific locations. The monsters occasionally show sneaky behavior due to features in the level designs. Setting: This episode is set on a rocky coastline. with spectacular outdoor views. These include high vistas and overlooks, live surf crashing onto the rocks, scenic elevator rides on the outside of tall buildings, and a spectacular bridge crossing the canyon in THE CHASM level. General: Secrets generally have some clue that the thoughtful and observant player can spot. These levels are designed to be winnable at the easier skill settings without finding the secrets, but to win the more difficult settings requires locating most of the secrets. There are no totally hidden hazards or traps; there will always be some visual or audio cue to warn of there presence. Some of the pools and slime pits have depth, ie, you will sink into them, sometimes up to your eyeballs. One final note; cliff edges at most of the high vistas are lethal to fall off of (one cannot expect to survive a fall of several hundred feet in real life). Additional Credits : Olivier Montanuy, author of WINTEX. I borrowed his grandfather clock and television, though they have been enhanced. Check them out, you will find them in THE HILL. Stephen's DOOM Music v. 1.5 for some of the music selections. Doom version 1.2 for some additional music selections. Anton Baranov (AN_MUSIC.WAD) for other music selections. * Play Information * Episode and Level # : Map01-Map10 of Doom II Single Player : Yes Cooperative Player : Yes (untested) Deathmatch : Yes (untested) Difficulty Settings : Yes, full range, all settings are slightly more difficult than standard Doom settings. New Sounds : No New Graphics : Yes, a new non-repeating, vertically retilable sky to support some spectacular vistas plus a lot of new wall textures. Special graphics to implement special effects such as the live surf. The graphics in this pwad are designed to complement and enhance rather than to replace the standard Doom graphics. New Music : Yes, a mixture of new music, existing, and a few pieces from doom1 as judged appropriate for the mood of the level. Demos Replaced : A short demo on Ammo Pit replaces demo1 (note: this demo was recorded under version 1.7 and will not likely play correcly under other versions) *Construction * Base : New levels from scratch (three rooms in MAP06 are essentually the same as the first three rooms in Steve Benner's tutorial with Waded in "Tricks of the Doom".) Editors used : Wintex WinDEU32 Waded BSP, Colin Reed WARM11, Robert Fenske (Both node builders used in final version, Some maps would not build correctly under one or the other node builder, thus requiring the use of both in the final version.) RMB, Jens Hykkelbjerg Corel Photopaint 6 CorelDraw 6 Known Bugs : Occasionally experience the soul-in- the-wall bug on several levels when killing a pain elemental. (This is a doom II bug that occasionally occurs in the ID Software's original levels. It occurs in tight surroundings where one of the three lost souls that replaces the pain elemental occasionally materializes in nearby void space.) MAP08 runs a little slow in Final Doom and possibly in versions of Doom2 1.9 and higher. Monsters that cheat: A monster revived by an arch-vile that can walk through walls and is invulnerable. This bug rare (I've seen it three times) and I do not have a clue what causes it. I am curious if any others have encountered it in any other Doom2 level. bugs with solutions on next release: "Observation Station", pink bug in secret teleport. Defeating monster cache wakeup; possible on "The Chasm", consider a guard monster trapped near switch for access back to bridge. "Observation Station", possibility of knowledgeable player of luring trigger monster out of blocking position. * Copyright / Permissions * You MAY use these levels as a base to build additional levels You MAY modify these levels provided that you give proper credit to the originator, whether it is me or someone I borrowed from. If you do, please drop me a line, I would like to see what you come up with. You MAY distribute this WAD in any electronic format provided you include this information file unmodified.