3.1 is on the way!

Seriously. Honestly. Next couple days at the most.

Also, Mik57 is reworking Doom City and Doom City Outskirts, so whenever he's done with that will be p. cool and stuff. Yeeeeaaaah

Map Submissions

I've been getting a couple map submissions recently, and it's brought to my attention that a couple earlier submitted maps need some love. So, if you've sent in a map, and I requested that you work on it some, remember to do that!

I am an adventurous man

I'm now running 2 polls at once, at the risk of the previous poll being missed. Anyway, the new poll. Vote on it, but don't forget to scroll down if you haven't voted on Despair Canyon's future yet.

Waaaaait...

So, it seems that the winning poll option is going to be putting in both versions of Despair Canyon, but there's a problem with that...


...How am I exactly supposed to do that? I mean, having one take up a slot on the next map pack would be a total rip off for the mappers, and take away a map that many enjoy for months, but I would also dislike having to name it ZDWars2v2 or something dumb, and set a precedent for keeping older versions of the map, which is counter-productive.

...What if the new version was just made significantly less campy? Is that objectionable? Just... balance it out between the two versions? Therefore, it would cater to both the berzerker types as well as the tacticians, as the fortifications would be minimized?

NEW POLL

P.S. Yes, I'm a fan of early voting. There's no reason to delay clicking the check box, it's the internet.

Software vs OGL poll, and an IRC Channel!

At the time of this posting, there is still nearly a day left in the vote, but things haven't budged for a couple days. So, safe to say that a scant 20% of ZDWars players use Software to play it. I'm honestly surprised.

For those who use Software, you might consider living in fear. At this point, there'd be no reason to use 3D floors, even if they were implemented in Competitive modes. But in the future, it COULD be a possiblity. :P

In other news, Mik57 is playing around with the map pack in preparation for my final look-through. The map changes are gonna' be pretty sweet. Remember that there is now a NODE-3 server, so get playin'!

Also, on irc.skulltag.com, there is now a #ZDoomWars, so jump in there and talk about ZDWars, give feedback, share strategies, etc. I may even divulge some info about development that's not even seen here. ;)

New banner Background, and some previews of 2.6

Just for teh lulz.

Now I've already brought up the Despair Canyon and Caverns rehaul, and the beginnings of the map pack 1 and 2 visual updates, so now some about the gameplay. 2.6 will resolve some bugs, as usual, and refine some of the nice changes made in 2.5, as well as solving a couple minor gameplay nitpicks that will work to make the wad play just a little smoother overall. For example:

-non-flying heroes can now never fall off of ledges, or be forced off of them, even by Loremasters.
      Yup, no more frustration with your hero ending up where they aren't supposed to be. Heroes are too epic to get pushed around like that! Note that they can still be pushed about by gunfire, and yanked by Loremasters, they just won't fall off cliffs.

-Undead Ghost Knight price raised from 10/4 to 10/5 due to their recent improvements.






     Well, with the improvements to the Undead Ghost Knight (increased melee range, health, etc.) in order to make there be a defineable difference between the two types of Knight, the standard Undead Knight was seriously obsolete. So now the Undead Ghost Knight will be two Hero Mana more in cost, which can stack up. So the more stingy types might actually opt to use standard Undead Knights (with Ghost Wave, if necessary).

-Barrage Weredragon's secondary projectile can no longer hit Ghosts.
     Barrage Weredragons are great. Spectacular, in fact. A battery of them could be nigh impregnable. So now, though they will retain their standard effectiveness, and still be able to effect ghosts more than normal Weredragons, Ghost units will at least be more resistant to their attacks so that Barrage Weredragons have a definable weakness of some sort.

-Zedek nerf.
     Seriously, he has 1200 health. Why, you ask? Because it was the longest time before I realized he was hurting himself, and kept trying to make him useful by buffing his health. Now, that's being turned down a notch, and the radius of his explosive attack is less significant, so he might actually be able to be overwhelmed.

-Inquisitor is more awesome across the board.
     More accurate rifle, bigger grenade explosion with forced, KaBoom type damage, actually using his rifle when up close. He'll be pretty sweet, though the direct damage of the grenades is reduced to compensate for the forced explosion damage.

-Programmer balanced further.
     He's cheap, let's face it. Now he'll take longer to conjure a lightning storm, and will shoot a little less. Still, his health has been bumped up to 2600, so his greater vulnerability and lessened omnipotence won't make him suck.

-Buffed Entity.
     He'll attack faster, and shoot multiple projectiles for some attacks (which, by the way, Spectre A and B already do, to a lesser degree).

-Normal turrets will be able to hit ghosts again.
     The recent Ghost revision made Virus lulz against Ghosts, and turrets nearly useless in some instances. So, in 2.6, a Virus player will want to not only use turrets, but mix in the two types: the choice between hitting Ghosts, or oodles of firepower? The Spreadshot turret's attack speed is also increased, so expect massive resistance when facing them.

And that's just some of the big stuff I have lined up. There are other, more minor changes, and quite a few bug fixes. The maps are undergoing some more work, as mentioned before, with a couple bug fixes and minor issues solved (Yes, Lord Maldovious will be really powerful).

Fun fact: Valley is getting a bit of a renovation. Yup. The old staple map is getting some fresh air.

Anyway, I, for one, am excited to see the result of Mik and Damage's first joint venture, because believe it or not, I don't get to see the maps other than an occasional screenshot until the pack is all done. :P

Mapping for ZDoom Wars Page Edited

I've added some details to the Mapping for ZDoom Wars Page on the side bar to include some organizational things I may do, including moving your map to another pack for variation, or if you already have one map in the pack. Of course, to bump a second map by an author would rely on the quality of what I would replace it with.

oman

I don't believe I've actually mentioned this, but Damage is officially a mapper for ZDoom Wars, and is working in Concert with Mik57 on the map pack.

As is, Mik57 first makes gameplay changes, and then sends the pack to Damage, who will be doing detail work. At this point, the map pack is in Damage's hands, so 2.6 shouldn't be too far off, and as mentioned before, will pack some tasy map changes as well as balancing and some bug fixes.

I've been at a gaming convention here in San Antonio called Chimaeracon this past weekend, thus the inactivity on ZDWars servers. Now that I'm again able to work on this in my freetime, I may toss out the Heretic monster pack or something.

Anyway, I received yet another Map Pack 4 submission this weekend, but there are still open slots, and there can always be another pack! Just don't count on seeing your map in action within the next... the next, uh... long time span. The good news is that I'm feeling more and more confident about the wad's balance, and there are a couple other handy developments at hand as far as the map pack and such that can help set the stage for the long-promised tournament at some future date. :D

ZDWars version 2.5V2, post ridiculous version, now out!

Some good changes here. Really stabilizes the new stuff, and even gives a shot in the arm to some of the Map Pack 3 Maps.

Full changelog:

Bug Fixes:
-Got rid of the A_Queuecorpse commands, which were apparently useless anyway.


Map Pack:
-An Updated version of Flame Temple has been swapped in. The map can now theoretically support 4 players, and has another statue - of an Inquisitor.

-An Updated version of Red Canyon has been swapped in. The bases look much nicer, and there is a large new area with an additional fortress and new base connections.

-The doors in Command and Conquer are now Repeatable Lines, so they can be opened and closed as you please.

-Updated the author's name in Despair Canyon.

-There is an updated version of City of Chaos, with new rooms and awesomeness.
-Updated the author's name in The City of Chaos and Turmoil.


Doom:

Balance Changes:
-Chaingunner health increased from 180 to 220.


Heretic:

Balance Changes:
-Ghost Undead Knight health increased from 330 to 380.
-Ghost Undead Knight melee range increased from 72 to 84.

-Mounted D'Sparil now has the MISSILEMORE flag.
-Dismounted D'Sparil now has the MISSILEEVENMORE flag.
-Mounted D'Sparil minmissilechance decreased from 110 to 100 (an increase in fire rate).

-Barrage Weredragon projectile's radius damage removed. Direct damage increased from 6 to 7.
-Yeah, I had no recollection of making them do radius damage. Anyway, Barrage Weredragons should no longer do radius damage, and therefore not hurt themselves.

Bug Fixes:
-Disciples will no longer ghost on and off during their attack state, since it interfered with the Ghost Wave ability.


Hexen:

Balance Changes:
-Afrit Enchanted Death projectile damage raised from 7 to 9.

-Zedek and Traductus will now strafe less.

Bug Fixes:
-Chaos Serpent Enchantment was broken.
-Homing Chaos Serpent fireballs didn't use all the appropriate frames.

Strife:

Balance Changes:
-Increased the Programmer's minmissilechance from 115 to 180. (less shooting)
-Decreased the Programmer's speed from 24 to 22.

-Spectre A will now fire two projectiles per attack, instead of one.

-Rebel speed boosted from 8 to 9.

Bug Fixes:
-Adjusted some flags with the Programmer.

-Spectres no longer have the +SHADOW flag.


CQ:

New Additions:
-Added in obituaries from CQ3.


Virus:

Balance Changes:
-The Felix has been given a minmissilechance of 100. (more shooting)

Bug Fixes:
-The Upgraded Spore projectile inherited from the wrong actor.

ZDoom Wars 2.5 and Map Pack 3 Released!

At long last, Version 2.5 of ZDoom Wars, along with Map Pack 3, has been released. Click the download link at the top of the blog page and retrieve all the files!

The complete changelog:

Overall:

Balance Changes:
-Units that cost only 2 mana no longer drop anything upon death.

-Ghost Units are overall more useful, due to several changes (see below)

-Retrofit Summoners are now listed just after the monster they effect, Pre-upgraded monsters are next to Retrofits, and some monsters were reordered to reflect their relative power.

-Many Heroes weren't immune to Radius Damage as they should be.

New Additions:
-Manuals updated, etc, with new purty stuff that makes it easier to use.
-Added flavor text to the monster profiles in the manuals from the original game manuals.

-Mana will now work correctly after respawning.

-Barrage Weredragons now have their own sprites, courtesy of Banjoster.

-Heretic, Hexen, and Strife summoners now use png graphics.

-Weird Bases now uses a High Quality version of the music it had previously.

-Introduced a "Ridiculous" damage type, used to make heroes resistant to certain things. Heroes only take 60% damage from Ridiculous damage.

-New, custom ZDoom Wars HUD, by Firewolf. It displays health and both types of mana, with both bars and numerical values visible. It also works in Widescreen, and is easier to read than the default HUD at high resolutions.

-Mana items will now blink for a few seconds before vanishing. Suggested by Zal. Don't know why I didn't do this before!


-Those who voted that something in the wad would be retarded were, of course, correct.

Bug Fixes:
-Player footstep sounds were broken.
-Some classes used incorrect frames in their HeroSuppression.Pain state.

-Each class now has game-appropriate blood.

-Hero indicators weren't moving at the right speed, and so were inaccurate.


Map Pack:
-You may notice that there are 8 brand new maps. Check the manual for Map descriptions. The descriptions will be more filled out and such in later versions.

-Weird Bases rehauled. Name purposefully misspelled for no clear reason.

-Battlefield 1994 rehauled.

-You can no longer spawn monsters outside the level in Dead Haze.

-A monster-blocking line in Valley was removed.
-Added some more sound-blocking lines in Valley.

-Lesser Crucible, though keeping its name, has been replaced by Greater Crucible, which has been replaced by an even greater Crucible map.

-Courtyard Teleport in Tech Monolith now only works for players.
-Fixed the HOM in the Courtyard Teleport destination.
-You can no longer go outside the wall in Tech Monolith.


Doom:

Balance Changes:
-Several unit prices shifted to have less normal mana cost, but more hero mana cost.

-The Shotgunguy will now be BRIGHT during his firing state, for the sake of Software users.

-Cyberdemon price raised from 120/100, to 130/115

-Mancubus now deal "Ridiculous" damage. Heroes only take 60% damage from this damagetype.
-Mancubus damage reduced from 14 to 13.
-Mancubus projectile speed increased from 22 to 24.

-Flame Mancubus now fire 2 more flames per attack.
-Flame Mancubus projectiles now live for 2 tics longer.

-Normal Lost Soul health boosted from 40 to 60.
-Normal Lost Souls now take 120% damage from Suppression and KaBoom damage type attacks.
-Lost Souls from Dual Elementals are now slightly smaller, to differentiate them a bit.
-Lost Souls from Dual Elementals now take 150% damage from Suppression and KaBoom damage type attacks.
-Increased the dimensions of the Lost Soul Projectile.
-The Lost Soul Projectile can now be shot in midair, to reduce the times the soul deals damage despite being stopped midair.

-Pain Elementals may now only use their missile attack 40 times during the course of their life.

-Preupgraded Rail Revenants took longer to fire than retrofitted ones.
-Revenant melee damage reduced from 20 to 18.
-Rail Rev accuracy increased from a 5 degree variance to a 4 degree variance.

-Revenant's dumbfire rockets can no longer hit Ghosts.

-Arachnotron health decreased from 850 to 800.

-Spider Mastermind minimum damage raised from 12 to 14.
-Spider mastermind accuracy increased from 9 degrees of variance, to 8.
 

Heretic:

Balance Changes:
-Ghost Wave radius increased from 125 to 175.

-Gargoyle and Gargoyle Leader mass reduced to 30.

-Disciples of D'Sparil no longer temporarily lose their Ghost Status while firing.

-Iron Lich's secondary Ice shards did not use the Hero Suppression damage type.

-Barrage Weredragon secondary projectiles now can only fly upwards at a pitch of 60 degrees max, down from 90.
-Barrage Weredragons are now immune to their secondary projectiles, enemy's or otherwise.

-Maulotaur Melee damage increased from 36 to 45.
-Maulotaur health increased from 4000 to 4200.

Bug Fixes:
-You are now notified when you unlock the mummy upgrade, since you actually have to unlock Nitro Ghost Mummies to recieve it.


Hexen:

Balance Changes:
-Enchant particle size increased slightly.

-Ettin painchance lowered from 60 to 50.
-Ettin enchantment now also delivers damage on strike.
-Enchanted Ettin hit knock-back force raised from 500 to 750.
-Chance of Enchanted Ettin hit raised by 10.
-Frame count in the Upgraded Ettin's pain state rearranged to be more efficient. They now get a full 25 tics of reflection, with less wasted frames, making the defense more effective.

-There is now a more significant visual effect for the Afrit Enchanted Death.
-Afrit Enchanted Death damage buffed.

-All Chaos Serpents are now immune to radius damage.

-Chaos Serpent Enchanted Projectile buffed in both explosive damage and explosive radius.

-Homing Chaos Serpent projectiles now home in less effectively.

-Enchant ability radius increased from 125 to 200.

-Centaur Enchanted Defense effect increased in size.

-Bishops can no longer hit Ghosts.
-Decreased the number of projectiles fired by a Bishop, but increased the per-projectile damage to compensate. The purpose of this is to reduce lag.

-Wraith speed increased from 13 to 14.
-Wraiths now have the +MISSILEMORE flag.

-Heresiarch health boosted from 4000 to 4500.
-Heresiarch bouncing, flaming head damage increased from 10 to 18.
-Heresiarch purple sphere damage increased from 6 to 7, and explosive damage increased from 20 to 30.

-Korax minmissilechance reduced from 70 to 60. He should shoot more often.
-Korax health raised from 5000 to 5500.
-The damage was raised from 8 to 9 on a couple of Korax's projectiles.
-...Korax couldn't hit Ghosts. :|

-Zedek, Traductus, and Menelkir now have the NODROPOFF flag. This means that they won't go strafing off of cliffs, and cannot be pushed off cliffs.
-Zedek and Traductus no longer have melee states.
-Zedek is now immune to radius damage.

Bug Fixes:
-Even un-enchanted Afrits emitted their death-projectiles.

-The Death Wyvern was not immune to Annihilate damage.


Strife:

Balance Changes:
-Spectre A has been replaced by the Programmer. He's very similar to the old Spectre A, but is faster.
-Spectre B has been renamed Spectre A, and Spectre C has been renamed Spectre B.
-Spectres incorrectly had the Shadow flag.
-Both Spectre types given more effective melee attacks.
-Spectre A's attack now homes in more effectively.
-The Spectre C (B) attack will now make less projectiles, so it shouldn't lag as much, though it will be weaker.
-Therefore, Spectre B main projectile damage has been raised from 13 to 15.
-All Sigil attacks can now hit Ghosts.

-The Inquisitor now shoots 4 bullets in its attack state, up from 2.
-The Inquisitor's Grenade states were shortened by 2 tics.
-The Inquisitor's shooting state was shortened by 3 tics.
-The Inquisitor's health was raised from 4250 to 4750.

-The invisible Robot Rez actors will now vanish after 2 minutes.
-Repair Drone effect radius increased from 200 to 250.

-Reavers can no longer hit Ghosts at range.

-The Sniper Templar's attack state was shortened by 4 tics.

-Order Bishops can no longer hit Ghosts.

-Templar health boosted from 350 to 400.

Bug Fixes:
-Fixed a visual innaccuracy with the Tech Tree image.

New Additions:
-There is now a visual effect for the Repair Drone.


CQ:

Balance Changes:
-Flembrane mass increased from 4000 to 6000.

-Larva mass increased from 100 to 150.

-Super Cyclops mass increased from 800 to 1000.
-Super Cyclops will now dodge less.
-Super Cyclops flem spore chance reduced by 5.

-Stridicus mass increased from 500 to 600.
-Stridicus pain chance increased from 15 to 25.

-Cyclops mass decreased from 260 to 220.
-Cyclops speed decreased from 12 to 11.
-Cyclops meleerange decreased from 86 to 78.

-Flembomination fire rate increased by 2 tics each cycle, overall.

-Snotfolus spore production rates increased by 5.

-Maximus can no longer hit Ghosts.

Bug Fixes:
-Fixed a sprite conflict with an unused sprite.

-Stridicus took away one less Hero Mana then they should have, presumably because I programmed the perfect douchebag.


Virus:

Balance Changes:
-Greater Prism health raised from 350 to 360.
-Greater Prisms now fire 4 projectiles in their missile1 state, up from 3.

-Spore shots changed to the KaBoom damage type, to reduce their effect on players.
-Spore speed reduced from 17 to 16.
-Spores given a minmissilechance of 160, so they shoot less often.
-The Spore Upgrade now gives Spores a 30% damage reduction vs. KaBoom damage, lowers their painchance by 20, and lowers their Sniper vulnerability from 150% to 120%, but no longer allows them to hit Ghosts.

-Meshwalkers can now hit ghosts, but only with their blaster.

-Drones can no longer hit Ghosts.

-Spreadshot Turrets can no longer hit Ghosts.

-Meshflier price raised from 40/8 to 40/15.
-Meshflier health reduced from 1500 to 1200.
-Meshflier missile explosion radius reduced to 90.

-Land Carrier frontal assault variance reduced from 3 degrees to 2.
-Land Carrier drone capacity boosted from 40 to 50.
-The Land Carrier's projectiles can no longer be reflected.

-Air Carrier drone capacity boosted from 16 to 20.
-Air Carrier health boosted from 500 to 600.

Bug Fixes:
-It costed more to retrofit a turret than to summon it pre-upgraded.

-Meshfliers spawned quicker than they were supposed to.

I am quite relieved to finally have that out of the way. Focus in the next few versions will be on ironing out Map Pack 3, and continuing to fix up unplayed maps, as well as detail them. Balancing will of course happen as normal. Meanwhile, I can work on OTHER things. Remember, spots in Map Pack 4 are open - though it will be a very long time before it comes out.

EDIT: 10:16 AM Hotfix, because Spores could STILL hit ghosts. D:

JUST KIDDING

So, Knee Deep in ZDoom Wars will not be in Map Pack 3. Sorry.

Wait, what's this?

Nuthin' much.

Map Pack 3 Finalized

Just on the verge of release, the Map Pack is getting finished. Here is the complete list of the maps included in Map Pack 3:

Flame Temple by Guigui, 2-3 players.
Red Canyon by Whodaman, 2-4 players.
City of Chaos by Always Doomed, 2-4 players.
Pacific Warfare by Mik57, 2-4 players.
Grimwald by Sauerkraut, 2-5 players.
System Reboot by Damage, 2-6 players.
Knee Deep in ZDoom Wars by Damage, 2-6 players.
Something Epic by Corpsegr1nder and Omegamax, 2-6 players.

Overall a varied map pack with unique design ideas, new themes, and brand new hazards, accompanied by all new music.

Also included are the updated versions of Weird Bases and Battlefield 94', Da Void (the replacement for Deja Vu), as well as the Lesser - Greater - Greater(er?) Crucible update, and a couple fixes to the current maps. Wierd Bases and the Crucible Maps have improved music, as well.

Tournament Participation Poll Results

Alright, so 22 people, 4 of which might get lag killed or DC in the middle of a match. That's alright. It won't be a long tournament, but it should work out fine. The tournament won't actually occur for a while. I want you fellows to be familiar with map pack 3 first.

You may have noticed a new entry in the Index, "Mapping for ZDoom Wars". If you want to make a ZDWars map, go ahead and read that, and if you still have questions, contact me however.

Anyway, Mik is presumably working on map pack 3, and once I receive it, I'll put a couple spoilers, etc to tide you over until release. Until that point, how about a list of the general gameplay and cosmetic changes coming in 2.5?

-Ghost Units are overall more useful
-Heretic, Hexen, and Strife summoners now use png graphics for the monster images
- New, custom ZDoom Wars HUD, by Firewolf. It displays health and both types of mana, with both bars and numerical values visible. It also works in Widescreen, and is easier to read than the default HUD at high resolutions.
-Mana items will now blink for a few seconds before vanishing.
-Player footstep sounds were broken.
-Some classes used incorrect frames in their HeroSuppression.Pain state.
-Each class now has game-appropriate blood.
-Hero indicators weren't moving at the right speed, and so were inaccurate.

The total list of changes to the Factions themselves will just have to wait until release! ;)

2.5 Preview, and setting the record straight

Naturally, I'm going to reach the part you most want to hear later, so suck it up and read the whole post, it would make me very happy face.

Now that I have a central news-giving-out...place, I'd just like to state that I do not like Faction Suggestions. Do NOT suggest a faction unless you have good English skills and have read the Faction Idea Submissions text file that comes with the Wad when downloaded from the thread, or click the link at the bottom of this page. NOTE: There will, in time, be new Factions, but not for a long time, and not without a formal announcement. I will not inundate you with them, each one will be planned out and spaced apart a great deal. Will they land fully balanced? No, but they will have their particular master plan laid out. As before, you'll need to help as you have with feedback, etc. Ideally, the other Factions will be balanced enough that the New Faction won't cause too much trouble.

Of course, you will want to hear what Factions I actually have planned. For those that haven't heard me rant about it in a server, I intend to make a Faction of Harmony, and, if the monsters are ever finished, a Faction of Hacx 2.0. These two are the only Factions confirmed, though Happy Time Circus 2 has been under consideration. DON'T FILL THE COMMENTS THREAD WITH FACTION SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS AAAAAAAAAAA

I usually aim to make new things underpowered if anything, so as not to destroy the gaming experience. Still, I need new content to be played enough for me to be able to fix it. This goes for other content: If it isn't used, I can't make it better to the point that it is used. So you fellows who like picking a single unit and seeing if you can spam your way to victory? That's actually pretty useful for me! This also applies to maps - if you don't like it, tell me why in the thread! There are many good maps available, but the ones that aren't good won't be improved without feedback, except in obvious cases (such as Weird Bases).

Now, as has been stated in-game, I intend to hold a ZDoom Wars tournament. The time frame for this is amorphous. I intend to begin it when I personally feel that the wad is balanced enough, and when Map Pack 3 is familiar to you guys. As far as I have it planned, it will run like so: You sign up, and choose ONE faction to use in every battle for the whole tournament. Games begin with 3 or so players each, the winners of these first battles continuing on and being combined into fewer but larger games, until the final battle. Each Tier of the tournament will have certain maps fitting the number of players per game for that Tier. The number of Tiers and the Tier progression depends on the number of people that sign up. A single loss means you are eliminated from the tournament. Each match will last an hour, and any commanders who survive the hour are taken to Blazing Colosseum for a 20 minute Sudden Death round, in which the Commander with the most health wins if multiple Commanders survive the 20 minutes.

This Tournament will be hosted by The Best Ever on a server with a password. There are other sundry rules which will be posted when the time comes. Don't join if you have a cruddy or unreliable connection to The Best Ever server, since it would be no fun for the other competitors. If you intend to join the Tournament when it happens, post a comment. This isn't a sign up, but it will help me plan if I have a better idea of how many people will participate.

And finally, what you've been waiting for, and may have skipped the entire rest of the post for: The skinny on version 2.5! 2.5 signals the release of Map Pack 3. Map Pack 3 will have at least the author variety of Map Pack 2. Authors Mik57 and the team of Omegamax and CKeen return, while there are other map submissions from other more or less acclaimed map authors, including Xaser with a redo of GVH00, Continuum of Silence, made to work with ZDoom Wars. It is a good mix of attractive and mid-size maps with support for a range of player counts, with brand new themes introduced into the generally Medieval/Tech/Hell mix that has been seen before. The new sights (Such as a Virus-themed map by Grymmoire) are accompanied by a renewed sense of what a ZDoom Wars map should accomplish. The maps all appear to have a good natural flow, and an improved sense of balance and attention to detail on par, or exceeding, many of the current maps.

But this does not nullify the old maps. In fact, several have been refitted for 2.5 to play better and provide a superior playing experience. Weird Bases has been redone from scratch by the original author, Xutawoo, to support 4 players. It looks and plays better (the middle is easily navigable now), while still using only vanilla doom textures. Xutawoo has also improved his other map, Battlefield 1994, with some improved texturing, and extended areas and structures, including an entirely new one in a new space near the Auditorium (which actually has seats now). Deja Vu, aka that map you never play, has been entirely replaced by a map by the same author, Captain Bighead, called Da Void. It has the same interesting visual, Void-like theme, but is an entirely new layout. Lesser Crucible has been replaced by Greater Crucible, which has been replaced by an entirely new map based on the Crucible theme, and by Leonan, the original author, so you could consider Map Pack 3 to bring in 9 maps, instead of the normal 8, without using up a new slot.

As far as gameplay, Firewolf has made a custom HUD for ZDoom Wars which displays both health and both mana types with bars and numerals. It works much better than the default HUD. Mana items will blink for a few seconds before disappearing, and the cost of the Cyberdemon has gone up for the first time in a LONG time, to 130/115. Hexen's Enchant ability is getting a much needed buff, and Ghost Wave is getting a radius increase. Various adjustments have been made to every Faction alongside cosmetic improvements and bug fixes. Overall a good version, I would say.

Version 2.5 will (more than likely) be released on April 1.