Batman Doom

Batman Doom is a total conversion for Doom II, created by ACE Team. In Batman Doom, the player plays as fighting various criminals in Gotham City. The WAD is loosely based on the  storyline that ran in the comics from 1993 to 1994, with some levels recreating specific events from the story.

The game is well-known for its complex DeHackEd patch created by Edmundo Bordeu and the numerous vanilla tricks it uses which make it very different from Doom. In addition to its graphical and gameplay changes, Batman Doom also features a custom soundtrack created by Andrew Wood (Corax), Martin Linda, Janek Szulew and Juan Sanchez.

Content
The levels in Batman Doom are broken into seven chapters. Each chapter begins with a "Batcave" hub map and features several levels themed around and culminating in a boss fight against a member of Batman's rogues gallery.

Note: Batman Doom's levels actually have two names; one is the map name displayed on the automap, the other is a short briefing displayed on the intermission screen.

Levels

 * MAP01: The Subway
 * MAP02: Batcave
 * MAP03: The Sewers
 * MAP04: Killer Croc
 * MAP05: Batcave
 * MAP06: Chinatown
 * MAP07: The Helicopter
 * MAP08: Tally Man
 * MAP09: Batcave
 * MAP10: Casino
 * MAP11: Gas Trap


 * MAP12: Penguin
 * MAP13: Batcave
 * MAP14: Gotham Tunnel
 * MAP15: House of Fear
 * MAP16: Scarecrow
 * MAP17: Batcave
 * MAP18: Blackgate
 * MAP19: Battergate
 * MAP20: Two Face


 * MAP21: Batcave
 * MAP22: Axis Industry
 * MAP23: North Mansion
 * MAP24: Theater
 * MAP25: Joker
 * MAP26: Batcave
 * MAP27: 43rd Armory
 * MAP28: Arkham Asylum
 * MAP29: Arkham Asylum 2
 * MAP30: Bane


 * MAP31: Escape!
 * MAP32: Weird!

Briefing

 * Gotham Station Hit
 * Chapter 1 &mdash; Killer Croc
 * Objective: Follow Croc's trail through the sewer
 * Objective: Capture Killer Croc
 * Chapter 2 &mdash; Tally Man
 * Objective: Stop gang fights in Chinatown
 * Objective: Reach Tally Man's hideout
 * Objective: Find and stop Tally Man
 * Chapter 3 &mdash; Penguin
 * Objective: Stop Penguin's illegal casino activity
 * Objective: Save hostages in Gotham Hospital


 * Objective: Seize Oswald Cobblepot
 * Chapter 4 &mdash; Scarecrow
 * Investigate explosives in Gate Street tunnel
 * Objective: Rescue Mayor Kroll
 * Objective: Capture Scarecrow
 * Chapter 5 &mdash; Two-Face
 * Objective: Stop Two-Face in Blackgate breakout
 * Find Two-Face in Battergate: "the War Zone"
 * Objective: Seize Two-Face in Gotham riot


 * Chapter 6 &mdash; Joker
 * Objective: Destroy Axis Chemical industry
 * Follow Joker's tracks to North Gotham mansion
 * Objective: Reach mansion's theater
 * Joker escapes! Confront him in Gotham cathedral
 * Chapter 7 &mdash; Bane
 * Objective: Stop the 43rd armory hit
 * Objective: Stop the Arkham Asylum breakout
 * Arkham Asylum part 2


 * Objective: Scarecrow escapes. Find him
 * No comment...

Soundtrack

 * MAP01: "Between Bat and Man" (Juan Sanchez)
 * MAP02: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP03: "Batdoom" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP04: "Morg" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP05: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP06: "Gothic" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP07: "Fugitive" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP08: "Falling Time" (Juan Sanchez)
 * MAP09: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP10: "Mirar2" (Juan Sanchez)
 * MAP11: "Waiting for the evil" (Janek Szulew)


 * MAP12: "Inferno" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP13: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP14: "Life" (Juan Sanchez)
 * MAP15: "Scarecrow" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP16: "Fountain" (Juan Sanchez)
 * MAP17: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP18: "Paranoia" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP19: "Streets of Gotham" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP20: "War Zone" (Andrew Wood)


 * MAP21: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP22: "Heavy on the DOOM" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP23: "Boots" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP24: "Runaway" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP25: "Overtur" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP26: "Streets of Gotham II" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP27: "Zone" (Martin Linda)
 * MAP28: "Dark Knight" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP29: "Gothic 2" (Andrew Wood)
 * MAP30: "Bane" (Andrew Wood)


 * MAP31: "The doomed city" (Janek Szulew)
 * MAP32: MIDI rendition of "" by


 * Title screen: "Title" (Janek Szulew)
 * Intermission screen: "Hall of Mirrors" (Janek Szulew)
 * Text screen: "Between Bat and Man" (Juan Sanchez)

Tricks
Batman Doom is famous for a large number of both DeHackEd and mapping tricks used in it:
 * Moving train
 * Flying helicopter
 * Killer Croc picks up rocks
 * Gang fights
 * Huge explosion

Weapons

 * Tazer
 * A close-range melee weapon that replaces the chainsaw.


 * Batarang
 * A projectile weapon that replaces the pistol.


 * Azrael's gloves
 * Replaces the shotgun


 * Shuriken glove
 * Replaces the chaingun


 * Blastgun
 * Replaces the super shotgun


 * Smoke bombs
 * Replaces the rocket launcher


 * Flamethrower
 * Replaces the plasma rifle


 * 7th weapon
 * An untitled weapon that the player receives at the start of MAP30.

Enemies

 * Terrorist
 * Low-tier hitscan enemies that come in four different varieties, with slight differences in health between them. The brown-jacketed ones drop keys.


 * Strake
 * Knife-wielding criminals who charge at Batman. There are two different versions, with the ones in green pants having slightly more health. This enemy replaces Doom's demon and functions in a similar manner.


 * Shotgun thief
 * A hitscan enemy similar to Doom II's sergeant. This enemy has a slightly tougher variant, the "Super thief".


 * Cheung
 * Aggressive gang fighters that lurk the dark streets of Chinatown. They come packed with shurikens and a wicked iron claw. This enemy is based off of Doom's imp and the shuriken acts as a projectile similar to the imp's fireball. There is a second variant, "Super Cheung", with more hit points.


 * Slum lord
 * Melee based enemies that charge the player, similar to Strake. This enemy serves as the game's first miniboss and the level ends when he is defeated. There is a non-boss variant used in common encounters in later levels though the boss variant that ends the level upon defeat also reappears in several levels.


 * Hawk
 * Trained wild birds that sometimes come in packs. A low-health, melee-based flying monster that is similar to the lost soul, but with much less health.


 * Sniper
 * A professional killer that uses explosive shotgun shells. This enemy often hides in hard to reach places or high grounds. The sniper utilizes the arch-vile's line-of-sight attack which can only be avoided by breaking sight.


 * Penguin Bomb
 * A robot in the shape of a penguin that waddles towards the player and explodes when it gets close. It does not have an alert sound, and can often come out from smaller locations or corners to surprise the player. Due to its explosive nature you should keep your distance when destroying it.


 * Zeke
 * A mid-tier enemy that hurls an exploding Molotov bomb that spreads fire exponentially. His attack is so intense that some times even he will be caught under his fire.


 * Clown
 * A mid-tier enemy that shoots fast-moving projectile darts. There two versions of this enemy: a "super clown" and a "fire clown".


 * Flamethrower dude
 * Further in the game you will encounter these gas packed villains. These enemies fire a short range flame and are best fought with long distance weapons.


 * Firefly
 * A minor member of Batman's rogues gallery that functions more or less like a flying chaingunner. The DeHackEd file refers to this enemy as "The Rocketeer".


 * Bloody eyeball
 * A strange mid-tier flying monster that only appears on MAP32.

Killer Croc
Killer Croc is the boss of the first chapter of Batman Doom. He has a unique attack where he will pick up rocks on the ground and throw them at Batman. This attack was created in DeHackEd via clever usage of the arch-vile's resurrection ability. Killer Croc is first encountered at the end of MAP04 and appears again as the first boss in MAP28.

Tally man
Tally Man is the boss of the second chapter of Batman Doom and is a high-health hitscan enemy that fires two shots at a time. The Tally Man first appears at the end of MAP08 and is fought again at the end of MAP28. In both instances, defeating him will end the level.

Penguin
The Penguin is the boss of the third chapter of Batman Doom. There are two different variants of the Penguin which the player will fight. The first form of the Penguin is the Penguincopter, a flying enemy with a constant hitscan attack that is first encountered at the end of MAP12. Defeating the Penguincopter will end the level. The Penguin's second form is encountered at the beginning of MAP29 and is a stationary target that fires off hitscan attacks in a similar fashion to Tally Man. When he takes enough damage the lamp hovering above his head will fall, rendering the Penguin unconscious. During both fights, the player will also be swarmed by penguin bombs.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow is the boss of the fourth chapter of Batman Doom. He replaces the revenant and utilizes a similar homing missile attack. Scarecrow is encountered at the ends of maps 15 and 16 and the player must defeat him quickly in MAP15 to access the secret level. MAP31 features a variant "Scarecrow sniper" enemy that will appear in windows and launch a missile at the player before vanishing. Scarecrow is last encountered in MAP29 and is the second boss fought in that level.

Two-Face
Two-Face is the boss of the fifth chapter of Batman Doom. He is equipped with a bazooka that fires a cyberdemon rocket at the player. He is first encountered at the end of MAP20 and serves and the second boss in MAP28. In both boss fights, he is accompanies by several low-tier enemies.

Joker
Joker is the boss of the sixth chapter of Batman Doom. He is encountered at the ends of maps 24 and 25 and serves as the final boss of MAP29. Joker has two forms. The first form utilizes an arch-vile line-of-sight attack similar to the non-boss enemy, the sniper. The second form uses a dart attack, similar to that of the non-boss clown enemies.

Bane
Bane is the boss of the seventh and final chapter of Batman Doom, appearing in MAP30. The player must defeat Bane using the 7th weapon, which can be picked up at the start of the level (the words "fight only with these gloves!" appear). If the player switches to a different weapon, the words "you failed to fight Bane with your fists" appear over the screen, leaving the player with no weapons and defenseless against Bane. Bane utilizes a charge attack, similar to the lost soul, and will occasionally pause to taunt the player.

Bane has 250 hit points (the same as the Doom II final boss). When killed, the level ends.

Compatibility
The TC is designed to be compatible with vanilla Doom and is available for both PC and Macintosh. However, a bug in DOS DeHackEd means that it does not run properly in vanilla Doom (after switching to the fist it is impossible to switch away). A patch has been created to allow Batman Doom to run in vanilla Doom properly.

Several fixes have been released to run Batman Doom properly in modern source ports. A ZDoom version recreating the DeHackEd gameplay modifications with DECORATE is linked below. Crispy Doom can run both the original version and the slightly fixed one (not displaying the unneeded episode selection menu) without the aforementioned fix for vanilla Doom.

The GZDoom-based graphical overhaul of Batman Doom named is in the works.

"Lost" Mac Molotov Cocktail Effect
Due to the aforementioned DOS DeHackEd bug, ACE Team decided to recommend Boom as the preferred PC port upon release. However, this inadvertently caused the Zeke character's Molotov Cocktail attack to crash the game, forcing them to simplify the effect for the PC version.

In the original Mac version, the Molotov attack spawned a large number of flames by using a recursive loop of the pain elemental's death code pointer. Each flame (a modified lost soul) called the A_PainDie code pointer, which, in turn, spawned three more flames. This was limited by vanilla Doom's hard-coded limit of 21 lost souls - after the maximum number of flames had appeared, no more would be spawned.

Since Boom removes the lost soul limit, this effect now caused the engine to crash. ACE Team simplified the effect by only spawning a single flame instead.

The original effect was only rediscovered in late 2018. Since PC vanilla Doom compatibility was restored with an earlier patch, the original Molotov effect is once again compatible and a new patch restoring it was created.

Trivia

 * Batman Doom's title screen is a recreation of the cover of #662.