Tormentor667: It all started in the mid 90's when I first played the shareware version of Doom on my old 486 machine. Although I had something about 15 fps, it totally scared me and I loved the tense atmosphere from the beginning. I was about 8 years old that time, so it was really scary for me as I was used to games like Commander Keen or Wacky Wheels :P My addiction kept growing as I got my hands on the full versions of all the official Doom games in the following years and reached its climax when I first started to work with DETH, my very first map editor :) This addiction hasn't lost any aspect till today and will most likely not end in the upcoming years as long as the community is alive ;)

Sigvatr: What are your favorite and least favorite maps in the original Doom games?

Tormentor667: I always loved "Phobos Anomaly" from the original Doom and "The Spirit World" from Doom 2, not only because the maps were different from all the others, also because I really liked the music of both. What I really hated were most maps of "The Shores of Hell" and all the urban maps from Doom 2, they didn't give me anything and I felt bored quite fast, even the first time I played them.

Sigvatr: Do you have a favorite fan-made wad?

Tormentor667: Almost too many to count as there are quite a lot of great creations within our community. But when I look back to all the releases we already had, nothing did amaze me like "Batman Doom" did. The TC is perfect, great effects, innovative maps and based on absolutely beautiful and well-done resources. It's still my number one of Doom creations and I am sure that this won't change.

Sigvatr: Are you working on anything new at the moment? (if so, tell us about it)

Tormentor667: Right now, after KDiZD and UTNT being the largest projects I have worked on so far, I do concentrate again on my smaller projects, less hype and less material (which doesn't mean that they are bad :P). One of them is the Skulltag project "Perforated Entrails : Renaissance" filled with numerous deathmatch, ctf, domination, invasion and lms maps, the other is "Stronghold", a multiplayer project for Skulltag and GZDoom featuring a different kind of "invasion" mode where your aim is to defend a base or structure from enemies instead of just killing all the monsters on the field. Next to those things, I am contributing to "Sabbath Martyr II", "Community Chest III" and partially spearheading the "ZPack - Random Maps for ZDoom" community effort... so, yes, I am actually working on something new ;)

Sigvatr: In your eyes, what makes a good Doom map? What sort of advice do you have for Doom mappers?

Tormentor667: I could now point to my doom article about "The Art of Great Conception" that I have written some months ago ;) But, well, I will try to summarize it in simple 3 rules which are all equally important: 1st, do something innovative that hasn't been done before (not yet again another UAC base), 2nd make sure that it has at least an average degree of detail (doesn't need to be KDiZD addiction, but work on detail for a while) and 3rd make sure that your map's gameplay is diversified (different traps, different kind of rooms or puzzles).

Sigvatr: The level of detail in maps created by Doom mappers varies immensly. Do you think detail in maps is important? Is there an ideal level of detail that Doom mappers should strive for in their maps?

Tormentor667: The fact that computers get faster & faster, sourceports make up for more possibilites in map design and map editors are easier to use are obviously the reasons why detail in maps is more important today than about 12 yearsc ago. In my eyes, detail is as important as gameplay for many reasons that I have already stated a hundred times already before but what's the ideal? It depends on the resources, on the style of mapping, on the project... you actually can't tell what's the ideal, you only can say: "Add detail until it looks good enough for your taste" ;)

Sigvatr: Are there any mapping trends that you think should die out?

Tormentor667: No! Definitely not! Mapping trends keep the community alive and if an experiment has already become a trend it means that it is certainly successful as many people contribute or play it. Just take a look at the latest two 32in24 project, the ctf pack and the detail/dm pack: The maps are beautiful, play great and are totally fun online :) Not to mention that they contributors had a lot of fun in creating them. I am glad that still so many people can put something together like this in such a short time, thx for that!

Sigvatr: What kind of wads or maps would you like to see made one day?

Tormentor667: I know, self-praise sucks but I really would like to see more projects like "The Ultimate Torment & Torture", projects that go far beyond Doom and try to reach the limit. Projects that are so epic in map design and atmosphere that you ask yourself why anyone is playing Doom 3 or Unreal 2 for a fee when they can play something equal for free :) Simply - as I have said a few paragraphs before - maps and projects that show off what's possible with Doom and with new sourceports, things that I haven't seen in a wad before. (another good examples are Cyb's Void and Skadoomers Foreverhood btw)

Sigvatr: Why do you think it is that people continue to play and modify Doom after all these years?

Tormentor667: I think there are 3 reasons that are responsible for that everlasting popularity: First at all, the engine is still in developement and every few days and weeks, there are new possibilities in mapping and modifying, thx to the developers of sourceports like Skulltag, (G)ZDoom and others. Second, we have so many persons still active in the community and so many maps and wads being released every month, it just doesn't get boring. Third, last but not least, it's the Doom addiction :P You can't explain it but you know it's there =)

Sigvatr: Have you ever had any dreams about Doom?

Tormentor667: Oh yeah, hundreds :P It's kinda funny, I often dream non-related nightmares, for example being hunt by murders or evil creatures, falling down a skyscraper or diving in a very deep lake. And everytime I tend to die, I hit the magical 5-letter cheatcode and get myself out of this trouble again... IDDQD, and you never die in your dreams ;)

Sigvatr: Thank you for sharing your time with us.

Tormentor667: Thanks in return for taking the time to create the questions, I had a nice time :)