DBP59: Zeppelin Armada

DBP59: Zeppelin Armada | DBP59.WAD

Doomer Boards

Oh, Dexter Hornbuckle, you’ve really screwed up this time. All your gallivanting across the time stream has left a hole for a horde of demons to invade your breathtakingly beautiful steampunk Victorian society with its floating cities and massive airships. What are you ever to do? Well, you could play Zeppelin Armada, the 59th entry in the long-running Doomer Boards Projects series.

Say what you will about the Doomer Boards: they’re anarchic, illiberal, brain-rotted with anti-woke obsession. The shower drain of the Doom community. All true. But Zeppelin Armada will surprise you. DBP as a series has always been a robust hotbed of creativity; after all, it’s been led off and on by Jon “40oz” Vail (of UAC Ultra fame) for the longest time, and in complete fairness, most of its participants tend to be less the brain-rotted, “let’s hunt trans women for sport” type and more just too abrasive and combative for polite society. Either way, Zeppelin Armada represents a big step forward. Sure, their cyberpunk opus, AUGER;ZENITH, got a lot of attention when it was released in 2021; but Zeppelin Armada is just as much a work of genius, if not more. That it got “snubbed” at the 2023 Cacowards is not a statement as to its quality, only a question of its provenance — and anyway, the Cacowards aren’t the be-all end-all of community achievement.

The usual “I played this modded” disclaimer before we go further: I used HorrorMovieRei’s excellent Gothic Doom reskin mod, a blood fixer minimod that gives enemies the proper blood color, Flashlight++ 9.1 (set to a really dim light that nevertheless came in handy once or twice), and the Demon Slayer 1899 weapon mod. Full disclosure: Demon Slayer 1899 is my own update on an older weapons mod by willkuer called Demon Slayer 1887. I didn’t make any changes to its internal programming, I only fixed some bugs with the HUD and added several new graphics for a more complete experience.

Zeppelin Armada comes in two flavors. The first, DBP_59_FULL.wad, has steampunk-y reskins for most of the weapons (though, curiously, not the energy weapons); the other, DBP_59.wad, does not. The experience either way is nevertheless the same, as Doomer Boards aren’t typically in the business of making total conversions, but will often crank out some sort of minor DEHACKED magic to enhance the experience in some small way. You can expect a pretty standard Doom experience with Zeppelin Armada, at least in terms of actually shooting guns and fighting enemies. Where Zeppelin Armada stands out, however, is through the use of some clever storytelling tricks, headed up by 40oz and executed masterfully through the use of midtextures. They’ve done this sort of thing before — DBP52: Havoc in Creation told its story through runes you had to magically translate — but never to this extent, with NPCs you can talk to (by pressing the use button on them repeatedly until they run out of dialogue), quests you can complete (such as rescuing a distraught character’s cat from the mayhem going on outside) and at several points “cutscenes” shown in the form of sequentially-advanced stage plays. The final two maps go even further with dialogue floating in midair as you walk past or through the text, or a narrative appearing before you as you press a button. And while yes, sure, this isn’t the most narrative-heavy game there is even with all the fancy tricks, the team does a decent job of getting you invested in characters like the main character’s daughter Judy in the limited capacities they have. It’s an excellent example of the kind of short-form storytelling that the Doom community has begun indulging in. Can you believe this is all done nearly vanilla, too? It won’t run in the original DOS, but you don’t need a fancy engine like GZDoom to experience this kind of text-intensive storytelling in a Doom wad.

Zeppelin Armada takes you across 18 levels. The first is a simple prologue that introduces you to the world, and while you can leave almost right away, you’re given the opportunity to earn money to buy an early super shotgun. Combat starts properly on the second map, and the difficulty curve grows exponentially, taking you through several scenes of slaughter and culminating in a large mess akin to the final moments of, let’s say, Going Down that is perfectly survivable as long as you’re savvy and make use of your crowd control skills. The final map is an epilogue/credits map, intended to give the player hope that maybe, someday, hopefully soon, we’ll see Dexter and Judy again…

It’s clear that this project was 40oz’s baby; while he was a big part of the narrative outline, he also pulled together a lot of the resources, which triggered a minor controversy when it was discovered that the sprites he used for NPCs were in fact character sprites from the recent adventure game The Excavation of Hob’s Burrow. In his defense, he argued that he had discovered an old sprite sheet somewhere and assumed them to be from some adventure title from the bygone days — and in fairness, Hob’s Burrow is pretty old-school in aesthetic. The devs were flattered to see their characters used this way, but by way of apology 40oz bought the game and implemented new character sprites that, if I’m being honest, kind of fit the theme a bit better anyway.

Mapping duties were split up between 40oz, BiZ, Glikkzy, MortisCausaDonatio, snowy44, LunchLunch, kvsari, Redead-ITA, Sergey “Silverminer” Burow, russin, matador, and Thelokk (who has done work under the name Saltator, and whose name appears as such on the credits screen.) The result is quite varied, a multitude of different approaches to the overall theme. 40oz does a full seven of the maps, which is a pretty sizable portion by DBP standards; he gets us started, and his maps are the ones with the most dialogue. They are probably the strongest in terms of approaching the ideal steampunk world — his maps are gorgeous turn-of-the-century cities full of pipes and machinery and steaming vents bolted onto old brick and wood and stone and metal, with special mention to “Nightwatch” being, basically, a steampunk take on UAC Ultra. Glikkzy’s “Industrial Bureau” is a district of brick and metal, with high towers peeking above the clouds with air-docks for deliveries, while an urbam tram idles at the platform down at street level. “Clockwork Sky” by snowy44 is a sprawling assault on a complex of buildings that reminds me a little of some older urban maps such as Doom II’s “Downtown,” but nicer looking. LunchLunch’s “New St. Icarus” is an interesting run through a tightly-packed urban area with lots of civilians around; should you wing one, hordes of lost souls will chase you towards any sort of shelter, of which there’s honestly rather little. “Bad Balloons” by kvsari is probably the most conceptually simple map, the majority of it being a single lengthy train track through the clouds, but the airship you board has its own interesting moments.

If you’re looking for something more old-school, Redead-ITA and Silverminer’s “Highcloud” is just straight up steampunk Plutonia, the most architecturally and aesthetically simple map in the pack by far, but fun nevertheless. “Silvermoon Wharf” by matador is a sprawling empire of old-world flavor as you fight through the streets and atop the rooftops of a waterfront district. Thelokk’s “At Last, Exiled” gives us a chance to assault a well-appointed airship; it’s not as big as what we’ll see later, but it’s plenty of fun. BiZ only gives us two maps; the bigger contribution is “Flying Time Fortress,” which is mostly a large arena to fight monsters in and throw switches, but the moments belowdecks are great-looking nonetheless; the finale map, “Zeppelin Armada,” keeps it simple and stark and symbolic, but it’s powerfully emotional for a Doom map, especially after the ordeal you just went through.

Zeppelin Armada isn’t for everyone. DBPs often indulge in more slaughtery fare — not always, but you’ll certainly feel the pressure playing this, especially on Ultraviolence. But if you like a little bit of slaughter — nothing on the level of Sunder, obviously — and an aesthetic that feels like if Bioshock Infinite wasn’t such a damn Disney movie, then Zeppelin Armada is for you.

get it on Doomworld

MAP01: Whistlestop Harbor

Jon "40oz" Vail

An adorable way to open this mapset, there's no combat whatsoever in this map; rather, it's a dialog-heavy little introductory map that eases you into the game world. Now, after you've met with your daughter Judy and left your house, you can go straight to the exit, but it's more fun to run around town looking for money to buy the super shotgun from a shopkeeper. You'll feed a hungry cat, steam a foppish fellow out of his home, do some manual labor for a pint, and help a sailor with rudder maintenance. All in all, good fun...

MAP02: Aeroport Pavilion

40oz

... What, you thought the whole wad was gonna be like the last level? The first true combat level gets you started with a shootout in a hot air balloon before dropping you into town, where enemies come at you from all directions. It's mostly imps and zombies and pinkies, but a surprise cacodemon and a couple skellyboys later on add some gentle pressure to an already slightly busy map.

MAP03: Compass Canopy

40oz

A bloody shootout through some sort of industrial complex complete with waterfront, storage, a library and some sort of hallway where a painting is displayed. It's fairly sedate at first with mostly imps, pinkies and hitscanners, but soon gets hot n' heavy with revenants and mancubi and more than one bastard arch-vile, one of which guards a secret. The ending is surprisingly cinematic.

MAP04: Industrial Bureau

Glikkzy

Complete with the Jimmy Paddock music this is an absolute roller coaster ride. A helpful NPC mans the desk at the Industrial Bureau and gives you supplies; once you've cleared out the office you take to the streets, with crowds of bad guys pouring from alleys and swarming all over the streetcar platform, culminating in a big firefight in a square around a fountain. The action is fast and furious within a nice-looking urban locale and there's never a dull moment. Awesome, awesome level.

MAP05: Leaving Remnant Square

MortisCausaDonatio

This level is a large open square -- an apparent landmark called Remnant Square -- surrounded by restaurants, homes, and other features that you'll be shooting your way through. Signs of trouble are all around, with dead homeless laying about here and there, and the entrance to the train station is closed -- there's no way out. Your enemies are mostly going to be trash mobs, but on several occasions the square itself will be invaded by a large group of baddies including a couple arachnotrons and even a pain elemental. Can you rescue Arturo the cat?

MAP06: Tumblerock Rapids

40oz

Aesthetically it reminds me a lot of Duke Nukem 3D with the tan rocks and dark water; you'll be scaling a cliffside with water tumbling down. It's a long way up with a couple of switchbacks, the path heavily guarded and exposed. Reaching the top rewards you with more combat, especially as you grab keys. The yellow key brings in a flock of cacodemons on top of a bunch of nasties back down the rapids, but that's just a preview for the slaughter-heavy finale as you climb for the exit. If you help Lucian find his missing pliers, though, he'll reward you with something to help you deal with that mess.

MAP07: Clockwork Sky

snowy44

A sprawling, skyborne building complex connected by what I assume are glass bridges of some kind. You'll be shooting your way through industrial facilities, laboratories and a museum, culminating in a very busy fight aboard an airship as hordes of hell nobles, cacodemons and other trash serve as a meatshield between you and a cyberdemon.

MAP08: New St. Icarus

LunchLunch

Don't let the staggeringly large monster count fool you -- you won't be facing most of these if you check your fire and don't shoot any civilians. If that happens, however, expect a swarm of lost souls to ruin your day. It's otherwise a pretty straightforward urban romp through streets and alleyways while a surprisingly blasé populace loiter nearby. LunchLunch keeps the pressure on throughout, but the hell noble/arch-vile fight and the finale horde are both major pain points. Pet the cat for a reward.

MAP09: Bad Balloons

kvsari

This is a bit of a weird one. You come upon a train that's just sitting at the platform; the ticket office tells you that they've been blockaded, and so it's your job to travel down the skyrail -- quite the thrilling jaunt, that -- and clear the way. The actual skyrail section is just a mad dash to the outpost at the far end of the map while fireballs and arachno plasma come your way from all directions, killing everything you can; the meat of the level has you clearing a commandeered airship, not the most complex job but can get a bit dicey with an arachno undoing some of your work on the way out. And then you get to run all the way back, but mind the cyberdemon who's shown up at the tunnel!

MAP10: Airship Subterfuge

40oz

A rollicking battle across a train platform and a nearby airship hangar, 40oz's "Airship Subterfuge" is marked by large battles, from the rush of teleporting enemies at a switch downstairs from the platform to a big group coming at you on your way back, to outright slaughter in the finale, it's a crazy ride from start to finish with some clever secrets and lots of violence. Fun map, and you get to see Judy again!

MAP11: Nightwatch

40oz

Reminiscent of Blood's E3M5: "Spare Parts," this is a night-time jaunt through a dark, heavily industrialized warren of unclear purpose. It's mostly linear, with lots of tight quarters, but you'll often come upon broader expanses and this is where most of the fighting occurs. For the most part, it's a straightforward maze level, but 40oz turns things up for the two-wave finale with lots of revenants, an archie, and more. Aesthetically I love it -- it reminds me of his older UAC Ultra, just more clockwork-y.

MAP12: Highcloud

Redead-ITA and Sergey Burow (SilverMiner)

Tell me you like Plutonia without telling me you like Plutonia. I couldn't tell you how much of this map was Sergey and how much was Redead-ITA, but the overall aesthetic is very Plutonia-like, abstract and simple with a few interesting features here and there like a vault door you have to open. Encounters are generally pretty easy, but the imps-and-arachnotrons horde towards the end can take you off guard if you're not paying attention. I've seen people describe this one as the worst of the set and I kind of agree in that while there's nothing wrong with making a Plutonia map, I don't know that the meticulously-detailed Zeppelin Armada is the right wad to be making that for, and "Highcloud" definitely does not really fit.

MAP13: Can We Get Much Higher

russin

While it's certainly more detailed than "Highcloud," it's got a lot of a techbase vibe to it that I'm not 100% certain fits in the theme either. Nonetheless, it's a pretty fun map, with some cool encounters like dealing with knights and revenants in close quarters after dropping off a waterfall, an elevator down into a sewer with pinkies, mancubi and an arch-vile, and a medium-sized finale with more bonebois, cacos and a pain elemental that feels curiously neutered for the lack of airspace.

MAP14: Silvermoon Wharf

matador

Oh, I like this. It's an all-out assault on a cute little dock district. The wharf you start out on has you exposed, though the incoming fire is slow and a bit scattered. It gets busier as you move further inland, especially once you start working your way up onto the rooftops, which are lovingly slanted the old-fashioned way with really thin sectors. I really love the night-time vibe, and the slightly calliope-y music (a track from Dark Cloud, apparently) adds to the old-world, turn-of-the-century atmosphere. Beautiful map.

MAP15: At Last, Exiled

Thelokk

Thelokk has a reputation for evangelizing old-school gameplay, often in a confrontational way; with "At Last, Exiled," she's put her money where her mouth is, presenting a sprawling airship in which you'll be murdering your way from one end to the other. You start off in the bowels of the airship, but quickly you'll climb up to the main deck; the bulk of your time here will be spent in the library, dealing with a series of mysterious and abstract arenas very loosely in reference to a trio of books, one of which -- Perdido Street Station -- was written well after the Victorian-era setting of Zeppelin Armada, which I'm sure was the intent. Make sure you're ready to go before you head up to the bridge -- you'll get lokked in as you reach the top of the steps, forcing you to commit to a nasty fight with a cyberdemon and a bunch of cronies.

MAP16: Living Library

40oz

A sprawling library with lots of sunlight, like something out of an adventure game. Deep in the bowels of the place is a cutting-edge adding machine, but check out that monster count and do your own math. Both wings of the place have their own series of encounters, with a triple archie threat in the west wing; that's on top of the swarm of bullshit that hits the main wing once you're done on the east side. But the real kicker is in the basement, where 40oz treats the player to an absolute slaughter with a spiderdemon presiding over lots of knights, pinkies, revenants and other bullshit, with not a lot of shelter. 

MAP17: Flying Time Fortress

BiZ

This one's for all the marbles. You're on the biggest airship yet, a sprawling machine somehow floating gracefully through the sky. The initial stages aren't too tough -- a brief encounter down in the engine room gives a taste of what's to come, but there's more once you're topside. Ultimately, though, BiZ does the kindness of letting you know what you're in for and making sure you're prepared, as the final battle on the main deck of the ship is an enormous clusterfuck of slaughter with just about every enemy represented except the spiderdemon, the two lesser zombies and the Nazi. If you're playing on UV it'll get very messy, very fast; lower difficulties may find things more manageable as monster counts are almost halved in some categories. Survival is possible, even if you're using Demon Slayer 1899 (that stopwatch is a lifesaver) -- you just gotta be willing to win it.

MAP18: Zeppelin Armada

BiZ

After all that, the ending map is an emotional kick in the pants as we learn the fates of Dexter and Judy. The way dialogue is expressed through floating text as you travel through the blackness out of time is inspired. An absolutely beautiful way to end Zeppelin Armada.

-june<3

One day we'll find our time
Come to realize
That our history
Came full circle

The Doomer Boards Projects

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