================================================================
Title                   : The Cyberdemon's Realm

Filename                : ALBILLO.WAD

Author                  : Valentin Albillo

Email Address           : albillo@mygale.org

Description             : I'm truly fond of Doom, since its original 
                          release a number of years ago to this date
                          (03/98), despite the brand new, all bells-
                          and-whistles 3D games like Duke Nukem, Quake, 
                          Quake II, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Rise of
                          The Triad, Dark Forces, Tomb Raider, Exhumed,
                          Shadow Warrior, Blood, etc, etc, etc. 

                          After playing hundreds (literally) of the
                          very best Doom/Doom II levels, I decided to
                          try my hand at writing my own, and here you  
                          have it: this original Doom (not Doom II) level
                          is the result. Main features:

                          - VERY large level, guaranteed to be one of the
                            largest Doom levels you'll ever find. More 
                            than 400k for a single level, WITHOUT using
                            any gimmick extras.

                          - intended to be fun, not extremely difficult.
                            This is no "Plutonia Experiment" only suitable
                            for some Doom Gods. Try and find the correct 
                            skill level for you, there's one for sure.

                          - optimized for speed: it includes a built-in
                            REJECT resource with a 94% efficiency, for 
                            the fastest possible gameplay.

                          - absolutely NO bugs: no HOM's, Medusa effects,
                            tutti-frutti, tall walls, nothing. It's been
                            thoroughly tested and it's bug-free. Besides,
                            despite its size, you CAN save the game at
                            any moment, it will not overflow the savegame
                            buffer, as it happens with other large levels.

                          - truly non-linear geometrically: there are many 
                            distinct, interconnected paths through the level.

                          - truly non-linear strategically: there are several
                            different ways to kill most of the big bosses.

                          - extreme attention paid to detail: all textures
                            aligned, lighting, illumination effects, 
                            aesthetically pleasing architecture and color
                            combinations, etc

                          - single player, cooperative (4 starts) and
                            deathmatch (4 starts), plus all difficulty
                            levels implemented: from a difficulty ratio 
                            of 0.605 at "I'm too young to die" (skill 1)
                            to 1.476 at "Ultra-violence" (skill 4)

                          - hundreds of enemies (more than 220) of all types
                            for you to defeat, without being a continuous, 
                            brainless massacre: you'll have to stop and 
                            think a little from time to time.

                          - all weapons included, all items, all power-ups,
                            all keys are used and necessary to exit.

                          - no dead-ends, all secret doors marked somehow,
                            no obscure puzzles to ruin the fun, but expect
                            pits, traps and some *very* nasty ambushes.

                          - a complete test of your Doom abilities: you'll 
                            need speed, accuracy, reflexes, smarts, and 
                            at some places, a lot of balance, patience,
                            and luck.
                          
                          - it *doesn't* include anything not found in the
                            original Doom: new sounds, textures, dehack
                            patches, special effects, etc. It tries to
                            excel by its architecture, aesthetics, theme,
                            and playability alone, using just original
                            Doom elements, like >id< did in the first place.

                          - and finally, it's a theme level. The theme is
                            as follows: 


                          "At my early stages of Doom-playing, the most
                          feared enemy was the Cyberdemon. I always found
                          it very difficult to deal with it, and it took me
                          quite a lot of time to defeat the first one.

                             Then I began to think in how many possible
                          ways could a Cyberdemon be killed. Of course,
                          you could always kill it by brute force, in
                          the open (say with a BFG-9000 or so), but after
                          chewing it a while, I discovered several other
                          interesting ways ..."

                            That's the theme of this level. You'll enter 
                          the Cyberdemon's Realm. It's a huge, magnificent
                          fortress, heavily guarded by hundreds of lesser
                          monsters, where the Cyberdemon Kings rule. Your
                          mission is to exterminate every one of them, and
                          exit the fortress alive.

                            You'll have to decide your strategy individually 
                          for each of the Cyberdemon Kings. Some you could
                          try to kill using a powerful weapon. Some you
                          could lead to a devious trap. Some you could
                          turn their subdit monsters against them. Some 
                          you could fire at from a suitable shelter ...

                            As you'll see, there is *more than one way*
                          to kill them. It's up to you to decide how, and
                          make the necessary arrangements. And be careful
                          with your ammo. At the higher difficulty levels,
                          you will have to think before shooting, or else
                          risk being defenceless in the Realm ... "


Included files          : ALBILLO.WAD      The level (Episode 2 level 1)

                          ALBILLO.TXT      *This* documentation text file

                          ALBILLO.NFO      Text file detailing all enemies,
                                           items, etc, at all skill levels,
                                           as well as a lot of statistics
                                           on the level and difficulty 
                                           ratios.

                          ALBILLO.THA      Another different text file
                                           detailing a lot of information
                                           on the wad, generated with 
                                           Yonatan Donner's Doom Things 
                                           Analyzer program. His e-mail is:
                                           ruthd@post.tau.ac.il

                          ALBILLO.BAT      BAT file for starting DOOM at
                                           this level, Ultra-violence skill

                          ALBILLO.LMP      Ultra-violence demo completing
                                           the level from a pistol start
                                           with nearly 100% kills/secrets,
                                           courtesy of YONATAN DONNER
                                           (ruthd@post.tau.ac.il), one
                                           of the very best Doom players in 
                                           the world. Many thanks, Yonatan !

                          ALBILLOS.LMP     No-monsters demo, showing most
                                           of the secrets, items, and tricks
                                           in the level, as well as the 
                                           location of all weapons and keys.
                                           Courtesy of Valentin Albillo.

                          ALBILLO*.GIF     Assorted screens


                          To play the demos, use:

                           - for the full demo at Ultra-Violence:

                               doom -file ALBILLO.WAD -playdemo ALBILLO

                           - for the no-monsters full walk demo:

                               doom -file ALBILLO.WAD -playdemo ALBILLOS
                          

                          I would be **VERY** interested in getting other
                          demos completing this level at any skill setting.

                          In fact, to encourage you to try, I will send
                          a free CD-R, created and compiled by myself, 
                          with a selection of free doom software to the
                          10 first persons who send me a legal, working LMP,
                          completing my wad, at *any* skill level. The
                          LMP *must* be recorded using Ultimate Doom v1.9 
                          (and no other Doom engine), so that it replays 
                          on my machine without losing sync.

                          For further details, and to avoid wasting your
                          effort when already 10 people have submitted
                          their LMPs, e-mail me previously at:

                                      albillo@mygale.org
                                        
                          The exact content of the free CD may vary, but
                          essentially will be:

                            - a selection of the very best wads, megawads,
                              total conversions (TCs), theme wads, etc, for
                              Doom/Doom II, including ALBILLO.WAD  :-)

                            - a selection of the very best LMPs recorded
                              for Doom, Doom II, Final Doom, and top
                              megawads/TCs, such as Eternal, Icarus, 
                              Osiris, Hell Revealed, etc, at Ultra-Violence
                              and/or Nightmare skill, including *YOUR* own
                              LMP for ALBILLO.WAD  :-)

                            - a selection of FAQs, editors, graphic files,
                              Doom newsgroups, etc

                            - a selection of both source code and executables
                              released freely to the public for the original
                              Doom (Linux port), and its modifications:
                              Boom (Team TNT), Legacy Doom, DosDoom,  
                              WinDoom, etc. Notice that they require a 
                              commercial DOOM.WAD to run, and that is
                              *not* included on the CD-R, of course !!
                          
                          By the way, all material on the CD-R is either
                          freeware or public domain, I do not claim 
                          any copyright on it nor on the compilation itself,
                          and I do not charge anything at all for it, not
                          even the cost of the media (CD-R), compilation,
                          nor handling charges, etc. It will be created
                          specifically as a compliment for your efforts
                          in recording and sending the LMP. Period.

                          If you intend to record the LMP, please e-mail me
                          first, to make sure that you're still one of the 
                          10 first people, or else, send it to me by
                          e-mail at albillo@mygale.org. Any other 
                          comments or suggestions are welcomed as well.
                          Thanks !

================================================================

* Play Information *

Game                    : Ultimate DOOM v1.9
                          May work with earlier versions, as it does not
                          use any textures or elements of Episode 4, but
                          not tested. Most probably it works with Doom 1.9.

                          Earlier versions of Doom (say 1.2, etc) may 
                          not be able to cope with the very complex 
                          architecture at some places on the level.

                          It definitely *doesn't* work with any shareware
                          versions of Doom, as per >id< requests.

Episode and Level #     : Episode 2, level 1
Single Player           : Yes, definitely !
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Yes, 4 starts (not tested, could be fun)
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Yes, 4 starts (not tested, probably far too large)
Difficulty Settings     : Yes, all (ratios: 0.605, 1.210, 1.347, 1.476)
New Sounds              : No
New Graphics            : No
New Music               : No
Demos Provided:         : ALBILLO.LMP  (by Yonatan Donner, nearly 100% kills 
                                        & secrets, played at Ultra-violence)

                          ALBILLOS.LMP (by Valentin Albillo, shows most
                                        secrets & tricks, no monsters)

* Construction *

Base                    : New level from scratch

Editor(s) used          : DoomCAD 4.2 for designing the level
                          BSP 12x     for building the node tree
                          RMB 3.0     for building the REJECT resource
                          WADWHAT 1.1 for the level's info (see ALBILLO.NFO)

Known Bugs              : none at all, if run with Ultimate Doom 1.9 or
                          Doom 1.9. Earlier versions may have trouble with
                          the number of visplanes at some complex rooms. 


* Copyright / Permissions *

This package is (c) Valentin Albillo, 1998, and it's freeware.

Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional
levels or as part of a megawad. A credit line in your info file would 
be appreciated.

You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include all files in 
this package, with no modifications or deletions. You MAY distribute 
this package in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) as long 
as you include the whole ZIP or equivalent intact.

Also, you MAY use it for any purpose whatsoever, even as part of 
a commercial package, megawad, compilation, sales promotion, or 
marketing product of any kind.

The only thing you should not do is claim you wrote it, or try
to restrict its free availability. 


* Where to get this WAD *
                               
If you are reading this, it's pretty sure you already have the wad,
but if that's not the case, you can find it at:

FTP sites: ftp.cdrom.com

That failing, e-mail me at albillo@mygale.org and I'll send it to you
as an e-mail attachment, via ftp, or any other suitable electronic way.


* How to use this WAD *

Unzip ALBILLO.ZIP in your DOOM sub-directory. At the DOS prompt type:
 

                      DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD 


and select New Game, Episode 2, and your desired difficulty level.
Or else, to directly enter into the level at Ultra-violence skill,
use the included BAT file, just type:

                      ALBILLO  and press [Enter]
                      

If you want to have a look at the demos (recommended *ONLY* when you have
at least tried to play the level on your own for some time), type either:

                 DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD -PLAYDEMO ALBILLO

for the complete demo at Ultra-violence from a pistol start with nearly
100% kills & secrets (courtesy of world-class player Yonatan Donner), or else

                 DOOM -FILE ALBILLO.WAD -PLAYDEMO ALBILLOS 
                     
for the no-monsters demo which shows most secrets and the location of
all weapons and all keys, as well as most of the level, including the exit.

CAVEAT EMPTOR: Be warned that seeing these demos should best be left till 
               you have played the level a lot. Else you risk spoiling most 
               of the surprises and the enjoyment ...

None of this will modify your game in any way, it will only temporarily 
replace your Episode 2 level 1 with this wad while playing it.

Any comments (albillo@mygale.org) will be GREATLY appreciated :-)
Enjoy!
                            Valentin Albillo
                            March 5, 1998
