Ad Mortem: A /vr/y Spooky Community Project | AdMortem_v1.5.6.WAD

4chan's /vr/ board

Hey, this one's actually seasonal for once!

Say what you will about 4chan — and boy howdy, nothing I've heard about that place surprises me — but they do like their video games over there, and wouldn't you know it, there's some overlap between them and the Doom community (which also doesn't surprise me.) Every so often they crank out some fancy new megawad, starting with the X00 Minutes of /vr/ series, and more recently Fore/vr/ Alone, a quirky concept mapset centered around automap art. Probably their most well-known work, however, is Ad Mortem, an explicitly Halloween-themed partial conversion that takes after stuff like MAYhem 2019 or the recurring Trick & Tear entries in the Pineapple Under the Sea speedmap sessions. Using a combination of textures from the classic GothicDM set, OTEX, and other sources, a select group of 4channers have put together an eclectic mapset that's light on story but long on Halloween goodness.

UZDoom 5.0.0-rc2
Gothic Doom monster
skins (created an
interesting issue
where the hell
knight replacement
and Ad Mortem's
satyr used the
same sprites but
different behavior)
CBLOOD Ultimate
edition
Flashlight++ v9.1
Hooded mugshot
taken from Samsara

There's a couple new features to Ad Mortem. The first you'll notice right away: brand new skins for the weapons. While they're not 1:1 with the vanilla set, with some MBF21 magic providing a tweak here or there (I suspect the bulk of it is new animations for the plasma rifle replacement) they should handle pretty familiarly to most anyone, despite their cosmetic changes. There's also the addition of ambient sound, the lack of which in classic Doom never really seems to be much of a topic of discussion until something like Nihility: Infinite Teeth comes along and everybody smacks their forehead and exclaims "of course! why didn't we think of that before!?" It was fun recognizing a lot of the effects used throughout the game's soundscape.

Perhaps the most interesting addition to the classic Doom formula, however, is the addition of (after multiple updates) a whopping seven new enemy types. You've got skeletons (or "Skellingtons" as /vr/ likes to call them), weaker variants on the revenants without the armor who throw non-homing bones at you; gargoyles, one-hit-wonder flying bastards who throw fireballs at you; satyrs, normally a popular replacement for the hell nobles but here they're fast moving, relatively weak and will one-two fast-moving fireballs at you; "King Boner the Stiff," a revenant variant that screams the banshee noise from Blood and fires lethal homing rockets at you with significantly better turning speed; gremlins, little pale things that move fast and bite like pinkies, but die if you look at them too hard; rockets with legs, which as you might guess are the mapset's take on Serious Sam's notorious kamikaze enemies; and finally, Pumpkin Marines, a one-and-done appearance in one secret level that will send you into flashbacks of Scythe 2. Yeah, that's right.

All this was done with MBF21 trickery; no monsters got replaced. MBF21 (and Boom and MBF) features also get used, though not consistently (only one map uses the sucking mud feature introduced in Boom.) It's not quite a showcase of what MBF21 can do — I think that's better displayed in wads like Eviternity II and Abyssal Apocrypha — but it does subtly enhance what's otherwise a pretty straightforward mapset by post-Sunlust standards.

Ah, but there's the caveat, yeah? Released in three phases over the course of a couple years, each new phase introduced new maps in addition to bug fixes and new features; among the maps included in the followup phases were several maps that would rightfully be called slaughter. The big one is "Tears of God," a monument to Sunlust and similar. With 1600+ monsters on difficulty 3, it's a proper journey, arguably the true finale of the set — the final map, right after it, isn't nearly as exhausting. But slaughter is a regular feature throughout Ad Mortem, which is likely to turn off some folk but it does seem as if slaughter has become a go-to to fill space in community projects, as different authors have different styles and preferences.

Speaking of authors, it's quite the list: the entire project was headed up by Vaeros, who didn't map anything but put together some of the graphics, alongside ChopBlock223 who provided the custom weapons. Sullivan "Syn" Richards provided a few bespoke tracks. Mappers-wise, LunchLunch is the MVP at a whopping three maps. Two each were provided by Sitri, donk_konk, Bartekmil, ViolentBeetle, RancidSam, Hand-peeled, Coffee Achiever. Wolpertinger, EnragedEggplant, ASO3000, A2Rob, Velcrosasquatch, Punch you in the face man (who also did a bunch of the coding), Washing Machine Enthusiasts, GuyWithTeaCup, Your Mother, Ilya "joe-ilya" Lazarev, NepNep and African Equus-Sapien all provided one map each. Six maps were provided by "anonymous," though who and how many is obviously unknown to me. If some of these names seem familiar to you, a few of them are also Doomer Boards Projects veterans — go figure.

If there's a real flaw to Ad Mortem beyond level design, it's the music choices; it's a collection of bad metal MIDIs, repetitive tracks from console games, and a few interesting pieces that make me wish the whole set were like that. I sort of got around it by using an unusual soundfont that reduced much of the music to a synthy ambient thing; it more or less worked, I think.

I think I liked Ad Mortem. On balance there are some clever ideas, and some nail the Halloween and/or horror atmosphere better than others — I particularly enjoyed "The Imps in the Walls," "Shadow over Silverspring," "Norwitch Lane," "Autumn Mausoleum," and especially "Chthonic Phthisis." While there weren't any outright stinkers in the set, there were several that I don't think Ad Mortem would have lost anything if they were cut. The nature of huge community projects makes for an uneven experience, true; all the more reason, then, that a leaner, more streamlined experience would in my opinion make Ad Mortem a better, more memorable mapset.

MAP01: Catacombover

Sitri

A simple enough starter map, set amidst a haunted house, the graveyard out front and a catacomb below. A little longer and tougher than your typical MAP01, but you shouldn't have too much trouble so long as you get your hands on the shotgun and/or tommy gun right quick. You'll meet about half of the new monsters here, none of them particularly dangerous unless you're particularly stupid around the walking rockets.

MAP02: Caco's Keep

Anonymous

Set mostly atop a castle wall and some of its interiors, you'll have plenty of cacos to deal with, including multiple waves of them coming at you over the parapets. Some good use of the new ambient sounds, including a spooky tunnel that doesn't go anywhere... or does it?

MAP03: Beneath Bloodstone

Wolpertinger

Set entirely underground, this seems to be oriented around some sort of storage facility for massive vats of blood. Not too difficult, though the skeletons hunting you amongst the vats can be a bit tense with how fast they move and their tendency to get behind you.

MAP04: Pumpkin Delight

EnragedEggplant

A very short level themed after a pumpkin patch amidst some sort of ruins. Your primary threat is probably going to be the mancubi throwing stuff at you on the southern stretch of the map, but there's also a nasty ambush at the blue key. All in all, cute and compact.

MAP05: The Imps in the Walls

ASO3000

The biggest and most ambitious map up to this point, MAP05 is a journey into survival horror as you break into a demon-infested manor. Something awful lurks down below, but to get there you'll need to explore the manor and retrieve all the keys. It's mostly a lot of room-by-room clearing with a few cool encounters here and there, but atmosphere is the watchword here as you work to uncover the secrets beneath the earth. There's no getting out of here alive.

MAP06: The 64th Dimension

donk_konk

You wake up someplace else. It feels hauntingly familiar... something you can't quite put your finger on. But it reminds you of playing video games in a dark room late at night on your N64, way back in the late 1990s... It's a pretty classic Doom 64-style level in the vein of some of Tim Heydelaar's maps — think "Altar of Pain" or "Unholy Temple" — complete with a central structure, a cave in one direction and a library in the other. Some pretty good jumpscares too. It's also pretty dark — if your display settings lean towards the darker end and you're playing on UZDoom, you might wanna bring a flashlight mod. Awesome exit sequence.

MAP07: Darkwood

A2Rob

Continuing in the Doom 64-esque vibe, "Darkwood" is a large open area, mostly rocks and shallow water, with a large central tower. Part of the job is finding the various keys to further scale the tower, but A2Rob throws a lot of bad guys at you. It's a pretty messy melee for the most part, making extensive use of some of the new enemies, namely the gargoyles, walking rockets and especially the skeletons. Your reward when you finally unlock the teleporter at the top? More skeletons. Starting to feel like Jason up in here...

MAP08: Little Church of Horrors

Anonymous

A very tiny map, a jaunt really, centered around a small church, its immediate surroundings, and the creepy caverns below. Almost a sort of "Imps in the Walls" in miniature, perhaps. It's quite colorful with its use of autumn foliage and stained glass; it's also not terribly difficult by any stretch of the imagination. Fun five-minute map.

MAP09: Shadow over Silverspring

Bartekmil

This one's for the Heretic fans. It's a little medieval town with a dock, a little courtyard, a cute little street along a river, and a temple from which a whole horde of nasties will pop out at you. Finding the secret exit involves the very fun twist of the occasional jaunt into an alternate dimension that looks like the one you just left, but weirder, creepier. Really fun map.

MAP32: Pumpkination

ViolentBeetle

Do not be bamboozled by the low monster count: "Pumpkination" is a throwback to Scythe 2's MAP31, and the Doomers among you know what that means. It's a small, simple level, quite classic in design; the difficulty is in taking out those dang Pumpkin Marines.

MAP33: Tricks n' Treats

NepNep

Hmm... it's got Doom 64 vibes but not quite the style. You start off in a creepy l'il autumnal forest; later you'll travel down a long river that leads to some ruins, inside of which are a series of pitched battles for the exit. Pretty straightforward, but if you're very clever, you'll find some secrets to help, including a teleporter to a whole different forest where you can grab a key to an armory. Interestingly enough, the secret exit goes to MAP10, rather than MAP34, and written in blood next to it: "GO HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SUFFER." Wonder what it means.

MAP34: Uncle Reggie's Candy Factory

African Equus-Sapien

Oh, so that's what that means. Welcome to a weird little industrial nightmare, complete with a hot start, multiple nasty ambushes, and some really tough encounters. Pretty much everything beyond the red door is gonna kick your ass; don't do like I did and fail to stock up before heading through, because once you climb the barrels in the factory room you're locked in for the remainder. Mean!

MAP10: Memorial Island

ViolentBeetle

The end of the second act is a tiny little cemetery on a tiny little island; but in spite of the small space, it is shockingly crowded. It's like a Plutonia level in miniature. ViolentBeetle likes to throw pain elementals at you, which can really make for some infuriating scenarios if you don't pop them quick.

MAP11: Bold Catechumen

Rancid Sam

A more naturalistic outing, most of this level is set amidst some caverns and grassy areas. There are some artificial structures, including a disturbing room where to progress you must drain a troop of arch-viles of all their blood. Lots of gargoyles here to ruin your day, especially in the final area where you'll be contending with various skellies and maybe a pain elemental too.

MAP12: Every Damn Night

Hand-peeled

Who's that rap-rap-rapping at your door? Descend from your tower and kick some ass. Beyond the sunken yard there are three different sections you'll need to conquer. The yellow key section is a nasty little ambush with imps and flyers to harass you. The purple key section is even worse, a nasty slaughter ambush as waves of baddies including a cyberdemon come to kick your ass on a small platform surrounded by lava. The final section is... interesting. Don't step on broken teleporters, kids!

MAP13: Keelhaul Handball

donk_konk

A pirate's life for me? It's a cute little pirate town complete with docks, an inn, a fortune teller's, and even a clandestine pirate hideout complete with repurposed ship. Lots of skellies of various types, some fun ambushes, enough archies to keep you on your toes and overall a lot of Doomcute for a slightly different flavor of Halloween fun. I dressed up as a pirate for Halloween once, so hey, it counts.

MAP14: The Torture Garden

Velcrosasquatch

Though the textureset is a little more eclectic, this wouldn't be out of place in a Gothic DM-styled wad: weirdly abstract with places that kinda seem like something, but nothing specific beyond a graveyard or a bedroom. It's hard to tell what exactly this place is meant to be. The weird thing is that you don't actually need all the keys to finish; hell, I didn't even find the blue key. But if you're willing to explore you can get a few goodies. Not sure I'm a fan of the music choice... but that's a common refrain with this mapset.