Alien Vendetta

Alien Vendetta (av.wad) is a 2001 megawad that contains 32 new and hard levels. It is one of the few PWADs that are allowed to be used in Compet-n speedruns, and one of the Top 100 WADs of All Time. In a 2019 article on the history of Doom mapping, Alien Vendetta was called "the most influential PWAD of all time".

There have been two separate releases of Alien Vendetta. The second release, made in December 2002 when it was selected for usage on Compet-n, made various changes to almost all of the levels; the biggest change is the replacement of MAP25: Valley of Echoes with another map, MAP24: Clandestine Complex, as well as the relocation of the former MAP24: Demonic Hordes to MAP25.

On August 1, 2016, the expansion Alien Vendetta: Black Label (avbl_v1.wad) was released on the megawad's website, coinciding with a revamp of the site's design. The wad features two new levels that replace MAP01 and MAP02, designed to then-modern level design standards by Brad Spencer (Vorpal). It must be loaded alongside Alien Vendetta to play. Then in September 2016, the original 2001 version was re-released on the website as well.

Only one map has original music, the rest being a medley of existing songs. In 2021, a Doomworld community project created a music pack of custom songs, which was released on the 20th anniversary of Alien Vendetta's original release.

An early version, known as Alien Vindicta, was designed in 1996 with a complete set of 32 levels by Johnsen (including early map versions from Alien Vendetta), but it was never released publicly.

Levels

 * MAP01: Sunset by Martin Aalen Hunsager
 * MAP02: Rusty Rage by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP03: Cargo Depot by Mattias Berggren and Kim André Malde
 * MAP04: Seclusion by Mattias Berggren
 * MAP05: Crimson Tide by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP06: Hillside Siege by Lee Szymanski and Anthony Soto
 * MAP07: Showdown by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP08: Beast Island by Jan Endre Jansen and Anders Johnsen
 * MAP09: Castle Gardens by Kim André Malde
 * MAP10: Toxic Touch by Kim André Malde
 * MAP11: Nemesis by Martin Aalen Hunsager


 * MAP12: Entropy by Adam Windsor (the first few rooms) and Brad Spencer
 * MAP13: Suicidal Tendencies by Brad Spencer
 * MAP14: Overwhelming Odds by Brad Spencer
 * MAP15: Bulls on Parade by Madani el Hariri with parts edited by Yashar Garibzadeh, Anthony Soto and Anders Johnsen
 * MAP16: Mutual Destruction by Brad Spencer
 * MAP17: Nukefall by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP18: Lake Poison by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP19: Alien Resurrection by Madani el Hariri
 * MAP20: Misri Halek by Kim André Malde


 * MAP21: One Flew Over The Caco's Nest by Pablo Dictter
 * MAP22: Rubicon by Brad Spencer
 * MAP23: Blood Sacrifice by Kim André Malde
 * MAP24: Clandestine Complex by Lee Szymanski and Anthony Soto
 * MAP25: Demonic Hordes by Vincent Catalaá and Sam Woodman
 * MAP26: Dark Dome by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP27: Stench of Evil by Anders Johnsen and Jan Endre Jansen
 * MAP28: Whispering Shadows by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP29: Fire Walk With Me by Anders Johnsen
 * MAP30: Point Dreadful by Anders Johnsen (DM part by Kim André Malde)


 * MAP31: Killer Colours by Yashar Garibzadeh and Kristian Käll
 * MAP32: No Guts No Glory by Anders Johnsen

The first release had slightly different lineup for maps 24 and 25:
 * MAP24: Demonic Hordes by Vincent Catalaá and Sam Woodman
 * MAP25: Valley of Echoes by Anders Johnsen

Black Label

 * MAP01: Levenbrech by Brad Spencer
 * MAP02: Valley of Echoes, by Brad Spencer

Soundtrack

 * MAP01: CARMID3.MID from 
 * MAP02: "I Sawed the Demons" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP03: "Kitchen Ace (and Taking Names)" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP04: MIDI version of Fire Fight track 2 by Janusz Pelc and Michal Doniec
 * MAP05: "The End of DOOM" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP06: "Excalibur" from Rise of the Triad by Bobby Prince
 * MAP07: "Intermission from DOOM" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP08: "Huline Temple" from 
 * MAP09: "Dracoid Ruins Battle" from Lands of Lore 2
 * MAP10: "Plasma" from Duke Nukem 3D by Lee Jackson
 * MAP11: "Sign of Evil" by Bobby Prince


 * MAP12: "The Imp's Song" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP13: "The Demons from Adrian's Pen" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP14: "On the Hunt" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP15: "Bluroc" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder
 * MAP16: "Waltz of the Demons" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP17: "Into The Beast's Belly" from TNT: Evilution
 * MAP18: "Death's Bells" from TNT: Evilution
 * MAP19: "Dark" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder
 * MAP20: "Fight the Logic If You Can", original music track by Chris Laverdure (Dashiva)


 * MAP21: "Grove" from Hexen by Kevin Schilder
 * MAP22: Briefing theme from  by Dan Wentz
 * MAP23: "Demons on the Prey" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP24: MIDI version by Christer Holm of  level 1 theme
 * MAP25: "You Suck" from Rise of the Triad by Lee Jackson
 * MAP26: "Into Sandy's City" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP27: "Suspense" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP28: "Sinister" by Bobby Prince
 * MAP29: "Elf" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder
 * MAP30: LOL2-03.MID from Lands of Lore 2


 * MAP31: "Future Military Conquests" from Duke Nukem 3D by Lee Jackson
 * MAP32: "Atcoty" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder


 * Title screen: Briefing theme from 
 * Intermission: "Atcoty" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder
 * Text screen: "Task Force" from Rise of the Triad by Lee Jackson

The first release had a slightly different sound track:
 * MAP01: MIDI version by Christer Holm of Last Ninja 2 level 1 theme
 * MAP24: "You Suck" from Rise of the Triad by Lee Jackson
 * MAP25: "Atcoty" from Heretic by Kevin Schilder
 * MAP32: MIDI version of "" by

Black Label

 * MAP01: "Desecrated Village" by James "Jimmy" Paddock
 * MAP02: "Incan-tations" by James "Jimmy" Paddock

Built-in demos
This WAD's 2001 release features three built-in demos. All require Doom II v1.9 to view them. The demo levels are:

The 2002 release also features three demos for Doom II v1.9. This time two of them are multiplayer demos. The demo levels are:

Speedrunning
In 2018, Ancalagon became the first to complete the D2all UV max of this mapset. The run took 4 hours and 13 minutes.

Current Compet-n records
The Compet-n episode records for Alien Vendetta are:

The data was last verified in its entirety on June 21, 2020.

Files
Alien Vendetta is contained in a zip file called av.zip. It is bytes in size and contains  files:

It has the following hashes:

The old archive is contained in a zip file called av-extracted.zip. It is bytes in size and contains  files:

It has the following hashes:

The Black Label expansion is contained in a zip file called avbl_v1.zip. It is bytes in size and contains  files:

It has the following hashes:

Compatibility note
To play AV with PrBoom, the complevel should be 2 (Doom v1.9).

To play it on versions of ZDoom older than 2.3.0, or ZDoom-derived ports with an old codebase, you have to set the compatibility options to "find shortest textures like Doom" (rather than like Boom) for MAP07: Showdown and to "self-referencing sectors don't block shots" for MAP15: Bulls on Parade. The current versions of ZDoom and GZDoom apply the appropriate compatibility options automatically.

Trivia

 * The release package of Alien Vendetta contains a separate executable, called . It consists of a DOOM2.EXE version 1.9-based executable merged with a DeHacked patch called, and a to include new par times (utilizing an array), which is not possible using DeHacked.
 * The project was originally developed as "Alien Vindicta" in 1996, with a storyline involving the revenge of the Icon of the Sin.