Total Insanity! - Failed Resource

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Title                   : Total Insanity! - Failed Resource
Filename                : tinsan_x.wad
Released	        : July 04, 2008 (original ~2002-ish)
Author                  : Xaser, "The Conqueror"
Email Address           : [email protected]
Other Files By Author   : Zen Dynamics			(zendyn_x.wad)
                          TurboCharged ARCADE! Demo	(turbodem.wad)
                          Zharkov Goes to the Store	(zharky_x.wad)
                          I.C.T.O.A.N.			(ictoan.wad)
                          Xaser's SHiTWADS!		(swads_x.wad)
                          Lost SOulsphere: Gold Edition	(lslsp_gd.wad)
                          and many, many weapon replacements.
                           search for "Xaser" on /idgames.
Misc. Author Info       : Founder of the obscure "Masters of Insanity"
                          Insane Insane Insane Peaches Insane Insane ,
                          creator of weapons and insane modifications
                          project leader for TurboCharged ARCADE!
                          working on Lost Episode and Death to Chainsaws
                          also enjoys long walks on the beeeeeach

Description             :  An unfinished project of mine from years and
                          years ago, featuring custom weapons, enemies,
                          and early attempts of Xasermapping.
                           Quality is mixed -- some areas are neat
                          but others suck. I just figured I'd show
                          you guys what I did in the years long before
                          Zen. See below for more information.
                           Not much of a storyline, but it takes place
                          during the same timeframe as Doom 2 in an
                          "alternate world", if you will -- another
                          human plane taken over by Hellspawn.
                          Strange properties include fire-based
                          weaponry and unorthodox Earthen architecture.
                           Basically just a bunch of weird crap.

Additional Credits to   : Malcolm Sailor and Bob Reganess for ripped maps.
===========================================================================
* What is included *

New levels              : 15-ish. Some are rippy, most are dumb.
Sounds                  : Yes
Music                   : Yes, from Descent 1+2 mostly.
Graphics                : Yes (enemies+weapons)
Dehacked/BEX Patch      : Yes (oldschool)
Demos                   : No
Other                   : DECALDEF for ZDoom compatibility.
Other files required    : Zdoom, probably. Other engines may work, but are
                          untested and unknown. Try it if you wish.


* Play Information *

Game                    : DOOM2
Map #                   : MAP01-MAP11, MAP15, MAP30, MAP32
Single Player           : Designed for
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Maybe (untested)
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Maybe (might be worth a shot -- fire shotties :)
Other game styles       : Who knows?
Difficulty Settings     : Maybe -- it's been so long, I can't remember!


* Construction *

Base                    : Most maps are original but some are based on a few rips.
                          See below for the full list and such.
Build Time              : Somewhere around half a year, before losing interest.
Editor(s) used          : DeePSea (egad!), Doom Builder (much later), WinTex,
                          XWE, and probably Paint Shop Pro (though MSPaint was
                          used for most of the "graphics", I'm sure)

Known Bugs              : Probably plenty.

May Not Run With...     : Certain ports. This *should* be Boom-compatible, but
                          due to the nature of DeHackEd, it might not work in
                          anything else but ZDoom. Feel free to try other ports,
                          but don't be surprised if it doesn't work.

* Project Breakdown *

	"Total Insanity," as it be, was probably my first true, serious project. Somehow I never was content to make single maps so I always wanted to do some sort of a total conversion. My early attempts were terrible, but somehow this one showed some promise, at list in terms of uniqueness.
	It's been so long that I can't remember the ins and outs of it, but the basic idea was to create a mod that "was Doom, yet wasn't Doom." I came up with some neat weapon designs, threw in some enemies and textures, then got to work at creating one of the strangest total conversions I've seen. Here in "Total Insanity", we have fiery shotguns, enhanced Cacodemons, Hell Nazis, posessed policemen, Laser Chainguns, demonic schools, towering skyscrapers, and wackiness out the wazoo.
	Early on, I decided I wanted to make each map feel like part of a whole, not just a series of random levels. Thus, you'll see certain rooms repeated throughout maps to give a feel of 'interconnectivity', as well as a few areas that you can see from one map to the next. Transitions were key in this project, and in some areas I feel I've succeeded, while others (Computer Labs gateway intro, anyone?) are just plain silly. Well, I tried.
	One of the strangest yet most effective decisions, in my eyes, was that of the SS Nazi. With a simple red recolor, suddenly we had a "Hell Nazi" on our hands, and with a deadly fire attack he proved to be a dangerous enemy indeed. Although normally nazis are frowned upon in the average Doom map, my edit had some kind of strange "charm" that managed to allow it to fit side-by-side with imps and zombies and the like. Nothing like spicing up an old enemy to provide a bit a challenge.
	The map design is rather experimental in nature. I had several strange ideas and usually only half-finished them thanks to DeePSea's trial limitations (which often cut me off from finishing an otherwise good map). Map02 is a good example of this : strange tiled architecture, the cyberdemon "shrine" (actually a neat effect in my eyes), interconnected level design, and "mirrored" areas. Sadly, many areas seem "unfinished", and many ideas of mine were never used the way they should.


	I figure I have so much to say about the maps, I might as well list them on their own. 

	-Map01: "Chaos Zone"
	  Base - msscraps.zip (Malcom Sailor)
  Ahh, a short, sharp shock of an intro map with an impressive bit of architecture. Ah, what a great start for the wad, right? Too bad I didn't actually do the map layout itself -- it's Map01 from Malcom Sailor's msscraps.wad, a set of "scraps" and unfinished bits of maps he released for other authors to butcher, maim, and use. Thus, all the impressiveness falls on Sailor, not me.
  Interstingly, this eventually sparked a trend. Though I didn't take any more of its maps for TI, I later used this same msscraps.zip as a base for HELLDOOM which later became Zen Dynamics. Amazing how that seems to work, eh?
  Gameplay-wise, this one truly captures the spririt of TI quite well: tons of enemies surrounding, wacky weapons, and Hell Nazis torching up the place. I guess this one succeeded at least in the fact that it was a solid start, hopefully enough to get the player interested in the mod. If only I could have carried it from there...

	-Map02: "Shrine of Evil"
	  Base - Scratch
  The proverbial "experimental" map. I really had no plans going into this one at first, and simply came up with strange ideas on-the-fly and thought "ooh, hey, that might work!" A few strange lift systems exist, as well as a neat outdoors-y area (well it was 'neat' at the time). Detail is very, very light but at least most rooms have something interesting (a lift more often than not) to keep it from being just a bunch of square rooms. My early map design style shines through in this map, almost being somewhat effective in parts. Eh, whatever.
  My favorite part of the map is the Shrine itself -- that is, the "dormant" Cyberdemon. It's a Doom 2 format map so I hacked together the "Dormant" effect with an invisible wall and a quick DeHackEd mod to stop the cyber's idle animation, and voila, a statue! It still provides a bit of a neat challenge, though, since even though the average player probably *expects* the statue to come to life and blast his arse, he wouldn't have any clue *when* it would happen. Good trap design in a wacky level.
  Note that at this point (as well as the rest of the mod), jumping is not allowed. I didn't bother to flag the exit window as impassible so it's easy just to jump in and spoil the rest of the level. :P

	-Map03: "School of the Damned"
	  Base - Scratch
  All right, I know this just plain isn't cool: A "school" map. In all fairness, I hadn't even *heard* of Columbine at the time so it only seemed logical to try mapping a familiar location. Anyhow, the final product doesn't resemble the real thing at all and I certainly don't have any malice towards anyone there, so does that let me off the hook?
  Having said that, this map visibly suffers from DeePSea's limited linedefs the most of any map in the pack. Only half the place is even mapped out and the rooms are just square boxes with no desks or anything at all. I ripped the textures from something stupid, and the lockers look just plain fruity. Overall, one of the more "blah" maps in the set, unless barren halls and square rooms are your thing.

	-Map04: "Crystal Alley"
	  Base - Scratch
  An interesting concept that unfortunately wasn't carried out so well. Having seen so many re-makes of maps and conversions from other games, I decided to try my hand at it and re-create Level 4 from Descent. As you can imagine, it didn't turn out so well.
  Admittedly, the structure is more or less the same horizontally, though without slopes or flying, there was only so much I could do vertically. Anyone who knows the original map will certainly notice a few similarities... well, hopefully anyhow.
  Interestingly enough, though I ran out of steam towards the end and did some sort of strange teleport puzzle instead of the reactor core, I wound up re-doing this level as Map15 later on. I'm not sure why I decided to include both map variations, but then again who knows what I was thinking at the time?

	-Map05: "To Hell and Back"
	  Base - Doom's E3M8, the famous "Dis"
  This one was sparked from pure curiosity, more than anything else. I always wondered what E3M8 would have looked like if it was extended and lengthened -- after all, it's supposed to be a *city*, right? Of course, being the novice mapper I was, I took some strange design decisions. While some of the branching areas aren't terrible, the entire plot of backtracking to the center to nab the keys quickly got old. I guess this one would have been a neat concept if it wasn't for the poor gameplay choices, but you win some, you lose some.
  One fun part is that right here, as Map05, is the first Hell map of the wad. I wanted this to be sort of a "sneak peek" of things to come as well as a throwback to the original Doom. When you think about it, you really don't see many wads that let the player visit Hell temporarily -- usually once they go there it's final showdown time. ;P
  NOTE: This map is currently unfinishable. I later went back and tried to revamp a few areas and extend the cut-off parts of the map, but I quickly lost interest and gave up, leaving the map half-finished once again and now unplayable. It's worth a look around at least but good luck trying to actually beat it. ;P
  Interestingly, though it's been utilized by several mappers before me, I actually came up with the idea of the hidden archvile resurrection cages all on my own. Of course, the execution is bad and I forced the player to backtrack far too many times because of it, but points for trying, right?
  Riiight...

	-Map06: "Computer Labs"
	  Base - A map from Cyb's ancient "Project X" megawad (proj-x.wad)
  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I "made" this map. The main portion was actually stolen from Cyb's "Project X" -- Map26 I think but don't quote me on that. Gameplay at first involves finding four switches and opening a fake exit door. The part after that is all mine, though, so I guess I've sadly got to take "credit" for that portion. :(
  Also, don't ask me what I was thinking with the beginning "void portal" part. I guess I thought it was stylish or whatnot, and it transitions back from Hell nice at least.
  I actually spent a good while on the two-tone portion of the map, aligning the colors and whatnot. It looks kind of interesting, but still boring and square for the most part. Also, I didn't even realize back then how bloody hard it is to 'jump' over those little DOOR3 raised 'bridges'. I think I probably cheated each and every time. @_@
  The ending of this level was used as a "hub" of sorts. In the next couple maps, the player ends the level by stepping on a different teleporter, giving the illusion of innerconnectivity. After all, if they all share a common aspect, they must belong to the same system, right?
  Riiight...

	-Map07: "Nuclear Plant"
	  Base - Complete rip of MAP07 from Bob Reganess's "System Vices" (sysvice1.wad / aboosysv.zip)
  I feel terrible about this one. Aside from the teleport room at the end, this entire map was completely ripped from "System Vices", down to the texture choices and item placement. I guess I was just out of inspiration or something, or maybe I just plain liked the map. Who knows?

	-Map08: "Outer Base"
	  Base - Complete rip of MAP08 from Bob Reganess's "System Vices" (sysvice1.wad / aboosysv.zip)
  See above. I always thought this map's faked-3d trick was so cool, and I guess that's what inspired me to do the whole "i steel y0u map!!" thing again. Bleeargh.

	-Map09: "Station #666"
	  Base - Scratch
  Now here's an interesting story. This map was actually created as an add-on extra map for, surprise surprise, STRAIN. At this time I played and loved the TC, and decided to try my hand at mapping for it. Hah, fat chance.
  Anyhow, I made it anyway, and while it was embarassingly bad by STRAIN standards, I later decided to change some things around and port it to Insanity. Seems to fit right at home with all the other wackiness of the wad.
  I actually remember my idea and basis for creating the STRAIN map in the first place. I read an article/interview involving one of the STRAIN team members who described an old level design concept that was dropped at one point. Originally, some of the moonbase levels would have fragile outer walls, and if shot, the glass breaks and the player is instantly killed from decompression. I thought the idea was rather neat, and the "Decompress Daemon" thing was still in the DeHackEd patch (actually a super-fast invisible SS nazi with an instant-kill damaging melee attack), so I whipped up a silly map room with a breakable glass outer wall. It was pretty cool, but really hard since you had to make sure the enemies didn't puncture the glass either. Thankfully, I took out the breakable walls in this version, much to the relief of many of you, I suppose. ;P
  Interestingly enough, I have fond memories of actually making this map. This was before the days of Doom Builder so I had to physically use a calculator to figure out all the floor heights in the outdoor areas. This is certainly the most 'vertical' map I had ever made at that point, so that's understandable anyway. At least it makes me thankful we've got 3D previewing now. ;P

	-Map10: "Storage Skyscraper"
	  Base - Scratch
  Another map with an interesting background. It originally came from a wad of mine known as CHAIN, my first project to actually create code-pointer changing weapons. It was really lame, and I never even started on the second level, so I re-did the bottom 'floor' of the map and added it to Insanity. Strangely enough, despite the boxy mazes and even boxier design, this actually turned out as one of the better maps in the wad.
  I remember being giddy with excitement when I figured out how to simulate 3D buildings and "REALISTIC!!" ventilation shafts using teleports. Amazing how the young mind works, eh?

	-Map11: "Marble Incorporated"
	  Base - The rather-intersting tutorial map from DoomCAD
  Probably my personal favorite in the set. It's got city vistas, puzzles, crushers, and action. What more could you want? Sanity? Uh... get in line. >_<
  I actually can't take credit for the main portion of the map. It's actually derived from DoomCAD's example map (Matt Tagliaferri, DoomCAD's author, takes credit for this), which somehow was simple but not that bad. It had staircases, windows, a few neat rooms, a crusher trap (I think... I may have added that myself), and a stylish nukage pit with a secret and everything! Anyhow, I was impressed by this map back in the day, and I guess I should pity the map authors whose works "impressed" me... I was such a bloody thief, it seems. ;P
  The meat of the map involves a simple "puzzle" involving finding eight switches to raise a staircase of (albeit silly looking) crates to get the final keycard. Some switches are more well hidden than others, while some aren't hidden at all. At least it makes things interesting. I also caught a bit of Cyberdreams influence in one of the rooms. Unless you want to waste ammo, you've got to crush that cyberdemon before continuing on, unless you want to eat rocket. Er, laser... whatever. ;P
  Not only this, but it's got a huge network of secrets involved. Remember the generators from Map15? Of course you don't, 'cause this is only Map11 and somehow I wasn't thinking straight when I put that map after this one. :( Anyhow, if you seek out and destroy all the generators in the map, a nice, convenient door opens that eventually leads on to a secret area... which hides another secret... which hides yet another secret. Basically there's a lot of secrets to be had, as long as you know where to look. Eventually you can make it outside and duke it out with a cyber in a semi-epic match for the ages. In some way or form, I was planning on making this part required in co-op mode (by hacking around with starts and whatnot), but I probably never finished it. Go figure. ;P
  The starting area was probably the coolest thing I'd done in Doom up to that point. A semi-real city with a massacre in front of a major world corporation or whatnot. That and a sign, hehe. I loved the sign.
  So, if you want to try out just *one* map from the wad and nothing more, this is it. ;P

	-Map15: "Crystal Alley: Revisited"
	  Base - Scratch
  A "re-finish" of Map04 which actually somewhat resembles Descent's Level 4. I decided to actually use the correct music this time and put a reactor at the end for the player to blast, so the overall effect is actually quite nice. Though, I did take a bit of artistic license to add a secret exit, but what's the harm in that?

	-Map30: "The Final Fight"
	  Base - Scratch
  Oh, dear. The "boss". Maniac.
  Maniac is personified as a red Marine that suddenly transforms into a Spider Mastermind to shoot you, then suddenly back to Marine form again... huh. My original intention was that Maniac itself is actually all the 'brains' scattered across the arena, and you simply fight its avatar (which upon death, somehow kills the creature itself. Naturally).
  The biggest problem behind this uninspired boss fight? Health. The boss has *so much* health that it would take an obscene amount of time to actually kill the thing. I don't even know
  All this, and spawn cube shooters! Better watch out, the demons are about. ;P

	-Map32: "Xaser's Arena"
	  Base - Scratch
  A rare few of you may remember this map. I actually released it prematurely (xarena.wad) as a "teaser" of sorts, but I neglected to re-balance the monsters and items so the beginning of that version is nearly impossible without TI's enhanced weaponry. Thankfully, it's very doable this time around though. ;P
  To sum it up, Map31 was supposedly to take place in the player's old mansion, which had burned down years before and got sent to Hell, naturally. A super-secret turn in this level would lead the player to this map, essentially a virtual reality "training arena" with holographic demons and the like. Of course, being in Hell, the demons are real this time. ;P
  Though bland by its own standards, this map fits in well with TI. It's kind of cramped but overall an enjoyable romp that's very doable from a chain-pistol start. It's worth a shot, at least.


  So, while I certainly had fun while making this project, I wound up losing interest after a while. It really is a shame it never got done... it at least would have made an interesting diversion from the guy who made Zen, but I figured I might as well show you all anyhow what I was up to in my early years. Play it, laugh at it, discard it, or whatever you like. Nothing like letting a few good resources go to waste, that is. ;P
  Most of all, have fun. And don't forget to go Totally Insane!

   -Xaser, "The Conqueror," July 4, 2008.
        HAPPEE BIRFDAY UHMERICKA!!!


* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY use the contents of this file as a base for
modification or reuse, as long as you credit me in some form.

You MAY distribute this file, provided you include this text file, with
no modifications.  You may distribute this file in any electronic
format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file 
intact.  I have received permission from the original authors of any
modified or included content in this file to allow further distribution.

You MAY swallow a nuclear bomb whole in hopes of committing suicide, provided
that you make sure the bomb does not have any sharp objects on the outside,
because that may cause accidental disembowelment. Permissions have been
obtained from manufacturers of nuclear warheads for any bombs that may
be used in this event.


* Where to get the file that this text file describes *

The Usual: ftp://archives.3dgamers.com/pub/idgames/ and mirror mazes.