We are excited to announce a new arrival to our pantheon of community-made, demon-slaying Add-ons. Recognized for placing runner-up in Doomworld's Cacowards in 2023, Tetanus is now available as a free Add-on for our re-releases of DOOM (1993) and DOOM II! 

TETANUS 

Download and play Tetanus today by visiting the in-game Add-ons menu for DOOM (1993) and DOOM II – available on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, with backwards compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.  

Featuring a variety of influences, visuals and design, Tetanus is the collaborative result of the multitalented creators at Squonker Team. Joins us for another DOOM edition of Nods to Mods, where we sit down with the folks at Squonker and go behind the scenes on making this exciting mod: 

SLAYERS CLUB: Congratulations on the release of the Tetanus Add-on and for taking time to talk with us. To start, could you tell us a little about the team and some of your past work?  

Squonker Team: Squonker Team was formed in June of 2021 by a small group of friends in order to create a megawad influenced by WADs from the early 2000s’. This WAD would eventually become Vigor, which would release after Squonker 3 and Moonlit District.  

These WADs would be followed by a number of episodes designed to run on DOS as well as just about every source port imaginable. During that time, the membership grew from around five people to roughly a dozen, with some guests. Originally there wasn’t a team name; it came about due to releasing Squonker 3 first, so the name was derived from a tongue-in-cheek sequel WAD. 

SC: Despite the gritty name, Tetanus’ visuals are often a breath of fresh air, chock full of blue skies, verdant trees, lush grass and sprawling moss. What inspired the unique visual direction of this Add-on? 

Egg Boy: Tetanus began development in October 2022 with a test map made for experimenting with unique themes and concepts. It was based on The Orange Box's texture aesthetic, which was used to inform a clearly telegraphed mapping style where readability is key. The visual style was also inspired by the Steam Gardens level from Super Mario Odyssey. 

ZeMystic: With the themes and ideas that Egg Boy originally provided, a lot of us drew inspiration from other sources. I found the original texture set provided a retro Star Wars/sci-fi feeling with the lush, overgrown greenery and rusty techbase. 

 When it came to the soundtrack, Egg Boy wanted to take the direction into a retro “beat-‘em-up” style. The tracks that I wrote took inspiration from games such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. It was definitely a bit of a genre change for what I usually write, but it was some of the most fun I’ve had while composing. 

Bobby: Originally, we were inspired to make a speedily-made set like some of our older projects, but after a certain point in development we went full throttle on pumping up the production of Tetanus.  

For myself and others, this meant big, bold, vertical designs, akin to the kind of maps you’d see in Valiant. The scale bump and later texture additions to the resource (fade to black, gray variants, etc.) led to some of the team taking darker (desaturated, if you will), takes on the aesthetic, creating moodier, more adventurous maps and music present mostly in the second half of the WAD. 

Yugiboy85: Originally, I was planning to do some sort of tribute to a game I played quite a bit in my childhood called Star Wars: Droid Works. The only thing that stayed from that is the overall color scheme of it, loosely based on the training facility in the aforementioned game.  

Design wise, I took quite some inspiration from a community member called “Tarnsman” (part of BTSX). Mainly, some of their words resonated with me one day that a map had to have a cool opening shot because that is literally the first thing you see. It sets the mood immediately. That is why I went with that big tower at the beginning. I used a lot of 72 length (and also 144 when needed) lines too because I think they look quite interesting and allow for some nice geometry. I could also not resist of putting my signature “fade to darkness steps” where I could get away with it. :D  

SC: How did you work together to speak the same “language” as a team when it comes to Tetanus’ level design and textures?  

T. Will: The textures were deliberately limited and designed for a particular aesthetic. The color palette was probably the hardest to nail down, as it emphasized oranges and greens, and we had to adjust the blue and red hues for the best look. Throughout the process, we did expand the texture set but made sure it complimented the originals. These textures had a strict set of guidelines to emphasize both the visual identity and the gameplay. For example, each trap is accompanied by the floor tile with the exclamation mark; it telegraphs each fight which induces a new way the player interacts with the encounters.  

What also helped with the cohesion is a common pool of mapping inspirations. Our (mostly) short, punchy map design and minimal texture detailing comes from the Back to Saturn X series, Erik Alm’s Scythe trilogy, and Thomas Van der Velden’s Revolution!. 

ZeMystic: Graphical fidelity is a key aspect of the usual Squonker joint. For example, Egg Boy told me “No” when I wanted a brick texture in Tetanus.  

Egg Boy: Damn right. 

SC: What would be some of the team’s recommended tools and resources for any aspiring DOOM modders getting into the scene? 

Egg Boy: I used Ultimate Doom Builder to map, Slade 3 to put the WAD together and FL Studio for making my MIDI. A huge part of the mapping process for me was having Photoshop open while mapping for on-the-fly texture additions and composites; this is very important when making vanilla-compatible maps where you are limited in the amount of linedefs and visplanes that can be on screen at once. Uber handled most of the textures for the Add-on version, where lots of the original textures had to be recreated. 

Uber: Pretty much all of my graphical work on the project was done on Photoshop, along with Clip Studio Paint for part of the TITLEPIC image. 

When it came to creating the textures from scratch, I mostly relied on Photoshop filters to add depth to very basic base materials, usually not much more than a block of color with some noise and scratches. While it’s very easy to get usable textures with just a couple adjustments, at least my workflow tends to rely on layers upon layers, using different filters each, so my project files do tend to end up rather bloated in the end. 

Having a drawing tablet was, unsurprisingly, a lot of help. While it’s totally possible to work without one, it made the process much more fun when it came to things like painting details on the base materials. I mostly used it to paint over an in-game screenshot for the TITLEPIC - adding depth to the crates, seashells embedded in the sand. I’d definitely recommend anyone who’s interested in graphic editing or drawing to get one for themselves. 

ZeMystic: When it came to creating the soundtrack, we all used different programs to create MIDIs. Egg Boy and Korp used FL Studio. I used Anvil Studio. AD_79 and Bobby used Sekaiju. Each program has its strengths, allowing every composer to show off different aspects of their writing. 

Yugiboy85: Just UDB (Ultimate Doom Builder) and choco-renderlimits (a fork of Chocolate Doom). This was the second vanilla map I was doing, though, so it was a little bit of a challenge but in the end, it ended up working just fine.  

SC: Who are your favorite modders (or team of modders) in the DOOM community? What are some of your favorite creations that they’ve made? 

Egg Boy: Erik Alm’s Scythe has been a huge inspiration to me over the course of my entire mapping career, being the first PWAD I played. The BTSX series has also been hugely influential to my visual style, specifically the works of Esselfortium and Mechadon. I’m also a huge fan of EANB’s work and specifically their Glaive series, which itself is a modern take on Scythe’s short and punchy style. Rook’s Sucker Punch 2 has a similar vibe. 

T. Will: I would say Jimmy Paddock has been a major inspiration, especially his speedmapping ethos. His Deathless and Earthless being some of my favorite id-inspired mods. The BTSX WADs also deeply inspire me. 

ZeMystic: I don’t think I’d be mapping the way I do if it weren’t for Skillsaw, the BTSX team, Erik Alm, and my incessant ability to rip off everyone else in the Squonker Team. Ancient Aliens and Vanguard were some of the first WADs that I played and influenced how I’ve designed every single one of my maps.  

BTSX’s attention to detail and beautiful texture work has inspired almost everyone on the Squonker team on the visual aspect of level design. I beat Scythe in my high school library while ditching an Advisory class and it quickly became the WAD that I find myself going back to every single time I feel like playing DOOM.  

Bobby: I share a lot of faves with the mappers mentioned but I’d also like to shout out a few mappers who are under the radar, but making modern classics as we speak. Cacodemon187 is another vanilla mapping genius who I got to meet when working on a long-dead community project I was hosting, and his work is some of the most eccentric, atmospheric and personal works in the DOOM modding canon, with my current favorite being his minisode “El Viaje de Diciembre” taking place in a dead mining town.  

Danlex is someone I don’t know well personally but his maps speak for themselves: utterly ingenious engine hackery and genre-bending with maps like Lullaby, Kawaii 808 (from the WAD Capybara) and The All-Ghosts Forest being his most known works. As far as an older WAD that’s inspired me, Reconstruction/Decomposition by Da Werecat is a timeless pick. One of the most realized and perfectly paced maps ever made, the first thing I think of when I hear the words “spaceship” and “big squiggly goo.” 

Uber: Along with the group’s usual influences (BTSX, Skillsaw and Erik Alm’s body of work), I find that my own mapping draws a lot from the rest of the team’s, as most of my experience so far comes from working with them. AD_79 in particular is a great inspiration to me, both in the way they construct their layouts and in how they keep coming up with strong concepts for their maps and making the most out of them. 

Yugiboy85: My main sources of influence and what I would call my favorite modders are most of the folks over at BTSX. I don’t like naming specific people because they are all equally good in my eyes. However, I would say that most of my work is heavily inspired by the works of Skillsaw. They have that sweet combination of good gameplay and simple (yet really cool) visuals that I like a lot. I also would cite Mechadon for the detailing part.  

Skronkidonk: I would say that there are at least some TNT Evilution elements at the core of each map I’ve made. Erik Alms’ “Scythe” series definitely helped shape my mapping style. Most importantly, the entire Alien Vendetta team and their works have for sure inspired the way I’ve made maps over the years. Anytime a Squonker member plays a map I’ve made, they often mention how much it resembles Alien Vendetta. Joshy and Darkwave’s “Speed of Doom” also influenced my mapping style. 

SC: Wanna give any other shout-outs? No time like the present… 

Bobby: Ma, you a real one. Also, shout-out to Egg Boy for being a real one too. Shout-out to Gusteau for telling us that “anyone can cook!,” and to John Cage and Erik Satie for being really cool composers.  

It didn’t need to be said but also shout-out to everyone in the DOOM community since I started who helped me find my way: LordEntropy, DevilMyEyes, Obsidian, Cacodemon187, Death Bear, Blue Pineapple, Skronk, T.Will, Raiva, ZeMystic, Uber, AD_79, Maribo, rd, Myolden, Yugiboy85, DCG Retrowave, Mikolah, Ludi, SkeletronMK, Essel, Scuba Steve, Bank, roadworx, and all the homies in DTWID, DW, and Discord. To all the brothers in Chicago, you don’t stop! 

ZeMystic: I’d also like to shout-out Bobby’s mom. Additionally, I’d like to shout-out to my Dad for getting me into DOOM and setting me down with Doom Builder on a cheap laptop. I’d like to shout out EduardoAndFriends for his hilarious and well-made trailer for Tetanus.  

Finally, I’d like to shout out to everyone in Squonker. You guys have influenced the way I design levels and write music. Without y’all I imagine I’d be doing something boring like crime. 

Egg Boy: Shout-outs to Maribo, Ludi, Makkon, Ukiro, my cats Ruby and Luna, Tarnsman for being Squonker’s first fan, my family and RIP MF DOOM. 

Bobby: Real. 

T. Will: I want to shout-out to my family for being supportive throughout my entire life, Jimmy for helping me through my early mapping days and the rest of the Squonker team for the fun and creative input that made me a better mapper. Also, shout-out to my friends Kris, Matthew, Andrew, Autumn, Sam, Nate, Emi, Jeremy, Justin and Maddy for being there through some tough times. 

Uber: Shout-out to my family back home, who still support me and put up with my occasional radio silence after moving abroad thousands of kilometers away; to my old friends Dilleix, Tigre and Sabio who have always been a joy to chat and game with; and to fefor, promising up-and-coming mapper and just a great friend. 

My cat Bizcocha too, who somehow found her way into the world of Tetanus. 

Yugiboy85: Shout-out to the DOOM community as a whole for being pretty much my second home/family. Shout-out to Bobby_(lol), Skronk, T.Will, Raiva, ZeMystic, Uber, AD_79, Myolden, Ludi and of course, Egg Boy, for accepting me into their group. Shoutout to the BTSX team for being so nice and welcoming. 

A huge thanks to Squonker Team for their contributions! Explore more creations like Tetanus today by visiting the Add-ons Menu in DOOM (1993) and DOOM II, plus be sure to check out past Nods to Mods interviews with more illustrious members of the DOOM modding community by heading over to the Slayers Club.