What WAD are you playing now?

Megamur said:

And then I beat Eternity and Serenity again, too. I can't decide if Serenity's E3M7 is one of the best or one of the worst maps in the series. It's different, that's for sure. A shame the final battle of Serenity is so laughably easy, especially if you find the not-very-obscure secret right beforehand.

Eternity - Liked a lot of this WAD. Disliked the door maze in E2M2. Also a lot more of those unavoidable damage floors sans Enviro Suits. Everything else was unobjectionable and fairly interesting. Looking back on my notes, favorites were E2M1, 5, and 6. I think I also liked 8, but not sure.

Serenity - I liked every map here up until E3M7, which I'll say started out pretty good and then turned into gigantic corridors with squads of Imps and Troopers, and I really couldn't figure out how to progress, though looking at my notes I can't really say what was holding me back, something about keys and the door to the Spiderdemon. E3M8 was pretty cool though, especially with the barrel puzzle. E3M1 and E3M5 were my other two favorites.

I prefer TiC's two episode WADs, but Slaughter and Unleashed are so great that I'm not really saying much.

kmxexii said:

Eternity - Liked a lot of this WAD. Disliked the door maze in E2M2. Also a lot more of those unavoidable damage floors sans Enviro Suits. Everything else was unobjectionable and fairly interesting. Looking back on my notes, favorites were E2M1, 5, and 6. I think I also liked 8, but not sure.

The door maze was not good, no, but the bridge trap shortly after was done well. I actually got killed, which I was not at all expecting. And E2M1... I fell in love from the first hallway. The marble pillars and the archways and the light streaming in through the windows--some of the highest-caliber eye candy you could find back in those days. I think that's when I first realized that DOOM maps could be more than just fun to play, and could truly be an outlet for artistic expression if an author applied themselves.

Were you still doing pistol starts? I was actually unable to beat E2M8 from a pistol start, myself. You get tons of cells and a few rockets from a secret later on, but aside from shotguns dropped by zombies, there are no weapons in the map whatsoever, and I'm just not sure if there's enough bullets and shells to finish off the Cyber.

Serenity - I liked every map here up until E3M7, which I'll say started out pretty good and then turned into gigantic corridors with squads of Imps and Troopers, and I really couldn't figure out how to progress, though looking at my notes I can't really say what was holding me back, something about keys and the door to the Spiderdemon.

Again, I'm aware that the map was hideous, and yet the really huge rooms kind of fascinated me. And though it could've just been my imagination, it felt larger and less linear than the other maps. But it's a very weird level, compared to all the others.

Megamur said:

The door maze was not good, no, but the bridge trap shortly after was done well. I actually got killed, which I was not at all expecting. And E2M1... I fell in love from the first hallway. The marble pillars and the archways and the light streaming in through the windows--some of the highest-caliber eye candy you could find back in those days. I think that's when I first realized that DOOM maps could be more than just fun to play, and could truly be an outlet for artistic expression if an author applied themselves.

Were you still doing pistol starts? I was actually unable to beat E2M8 from a pistol start, myself. You get tons of cells and a few rockets from a secret later on, but aside from shotguns dropped by zombies, there are no weapons in the map whatsoever, and I'm just not sure if there's enough bullets and shells to finish off the Cyber.

Yeah, E2 is where I feel the detailing kind of exploded in an awesome way.

E2M8 is completable from pistol start on UV, at least. I had to engineer some infighting to get to the blue key and I wasted a few more shotgun shells than I should have, but I ended it with 15 bullets left.

Okay, so it's doable, but without a plasma rifle, incredibly tedious. Not sure about 100%, I'm not really willing to draw out the infighting required to game it. Put it down as interesting but poorly realized.

Megamur said:

Again, I'm aware that the map was hideous, and yet the really huge rooms kind of fascinated me. And though it could've just been my imagination, it felt larger and less linear than the other maps. But it's a very weird level, compared to all the others.

I really did start out liking Big Time! But as it wore on it got tiresome and I had no luck sniffing out the proper path of progression. I may have been coming off a vendetta of large, open hallways as a direct result of playing Bob Carter's maps in the Lost Episodes of Doom, which was 90% house-width corridors with drab/no decor. I will say the gigantic elevator at the end of one of the wood corridor hallways impressed me as something I hardly ever see in Doom.

Megamur said:

Were you still doing pistol starts? I was actually unable to beat E2M8 from a pistol start, myself. You get tons of cells and a few rockets from a secret later on, but aside from shotguns dropped by zombies, there are no weapons in the map whatsoever, and I'm just not sure if there's enough bullets and shells to finish off the Cyber.

Never_Again recorded an "attempted Max", where he exits, but could only get 82% kills. You can find it here.

But the map clearly wasn't designed with a pistol start in mind.

kmxexii said:

Yeah, E2 is where I feel the detailing kind of exploded in an awesome way.

Eternity was probably one of my top two favorite WADs for a while, for a reason. :)

E2M8 is completable from pistol start on UV, at least. I had to engineer some infighting to get to the blue key and I wasted a few more shotgun shells than I should have, but I ended it with 15 bullets left.

Okay, so it's doable, but without a plasma rifle, incredibly tedious. Not sure about 100%, I'm not really willing to draw out the infighting required to game it. Put it down as interesting but poorly realized.

Indeed, the level is a good challenge, but doesn't seem like it was properly playtested. And I probably would've done better had I simply ran past the hallway where you hit the switch and a window opens and reveals a bunch of baddies. I spent too much time and ammo trying to clear them out. Very dumb.

I really did start out liking Big Time! But as it wore on it got tiresome and I had no luck sniffing out the proper path of progression. I may have been coming off a vendetta of large, open hallways as a direct result of playing Bob Carter's maps in the Lost Episodes of Doom, which was 90% house-width corridors with drab/no decor.

I think I played one of those maps. They were better off lost. Yuck.

I will say the gigantic elevator at the end of one of the wood corridor hallways impressed me as something I hardly ever see in Doom.

Indeed, I just enjoyed the massive scale of that whole wood section. The inexplicable, swirling snake corridor at one point was neat, too.

Grazza said:

Never_Again recorded an "attempted Max", where he exits, but could only get 82% kills. You can find it here.

But the map clearly wasn't designed with a pistol start in mind.

Yeah, that played out pretty much as I expected, with much more finesse. One could save some ammo by getting up close and strafing the rockets until the Y platform hits its max height but it would make an already tedious exercise even longer.

I'm gonna be buckling down for a scoredoom run marathon of seven megawads.

In this order:

1. Doom 2 Reloaded
2. All three Community Chest Megawads in sequential order
3. Both Newdoom Community Project Megawads
4. Plutonia 2

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Vengeance with Beautiful Doom 5.2.6. One episode to go.

Finished MM, now blasted my way to Map29 of MM2. After I finish MM2 I'm considering playing through either AV or Requiem and then revisiting the MM series again. I'm addicted to 90's style gameplay, detail, and layouts.

Right on! Just finished the last episode of Vengeance and what a ride that was, the dark/evil style with black and red ala Gothic DM looks so much nicer and IMO way better than Tormentor's UTNT/Q1 knock off style.

Well, these maps play better anyway.

I beat Doom 2 Reloaded's two secret levels, having found all the secrets on Map32. (It was a whopper-of-a-map, too.)

I also got past Map18, which was a goddamned stealth level. Stealth levels are right up there with those switch and key-hunting maps. (and you all know how I feel about those maps, which is "Screw that")

Played through the first seven levels of Obituary (thanks again, NA!). These levels are pretty cool, I like The Innocent Crew's design style brought into Doom II, though I must say they're far more brutal in Obituary then they were in SUD or TEU. The Super Imp doesn't really enter into my mind for the most part since I'm not that keen on eating Imp fireballs in the first place. The Rocket Troopers are hilarious, of course, and 95% never a problem. I only just ran into the twitchy SS dudes (MAP07) and they are a welcome change from the normal D2 bestiary.

I really like MAP03 for just being tricky and slowly unfolding. MAP04 is my personal favorite just for having a fucking brutal pistol start and for having every fight being memorable. MAP05 was my DERP moment 'cause I got way too caught up in the blue key red herring and totally blanked on how to get to the red key pillar, but the sequence of fights leading to the blue key was pretty cool. And I like MAP07's throwback to the earlier two episode WADS for its heavy use of cross iconography in the layout, and its obvious design toward coop.

About Map18 of Doom 2 Reloaded, if you make a single noise inside the warehouse area, (except in a few certain rooms) you'll have a buttload of archviles and a cyberdemon on your ass. Yes, it's as painful as it sounds.

Played through Redemption and an episode I can't remember the name of. Excellent.

Just played Polygon Base and Moon2000, I recommend both to anyone who hasn't played them. Reminds me of massive maps from '99.

My Scoredoom run on Doom 2 Reloaded's all done.

Next up: The Community Chest series.

gun_psycho said:

My Scoredoom run on Doom 2 Reloaded's all done.

Next up: The Community Chest series.

If you manage to suffer through CC1 map06 let me know how you did it.

Finished Momento Mori 2, now halfway through STRAIN. ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!

Marcaek said:

If you manage to suffer through CC1 map06 let me know how you did it.

Oh god so much this. That map is fucking awful. Imbalanced as fuck and way too illogical progression.

Doomhuntress said:

Oh god so much this. That map is fucking awful. Imbalanced as fuck and way too illogical progression.

I couldn't finish any of the Community Chests, the one map would be an absolute masterpiece, then the next would be a hideous piece of shit with an even worse ear piercing Fear Factory midi.

I hope justanotherfool's feedback pays off in the end for this upcoming Community Chest.

I know Map06 in the first CC was pretty bad, having played it a few times, but I was astounded by how massive map29 was.

Are there any other bad maps in the three Community Chests that I should dread having to do? Also, what awesome maps would I have to look forward to as well?

Edit: Since the Doom Wiki was kind enough to give me info on how to get to the secret levels, I'll memorize how to get to those levels when I get to Maps 15 and 31 in each of the CC megawads first. (For CC3, the supersecret exit in Map31 not really that much of a secret, considering it's accessible once the titular bomb's disarmed.)

DeathevokatioN said:

I couldn't finish any of the Community Chests, the one map would be an absolute masterpiece, then the next would be a hideous piece of shit with an even worse ear piercing Fear Factory midi.

I hope justanotherfool's feedback pays off in the end for this upcoming Community Chest.

The Community Chest's are probably best played from pistol starts, considering the nature of the projects. I would just skip a bad level if I came to it. Usually I can tolerate them long enough to finish them, but Going Down is just horrendous. The whole Revenant room was bad enough, but what the hell are you supposed to do in the room with the invisible bridge?

I got past the infamous Goin' Down map via the jump powerup I saved to get to the exit. (While Scoredoom's Addon pack pits you against the horde of custom monsters to go along with the vanilla cast, at least the powerups that spawn with them can help tip the odds in your favor)

Are there any more bad maps I should worry about in CC1 besides Map06?

Edit: Which are the best maps in each of the Community Chests? In order from the first to the third one.

gun_psycho said:

Which are the best maps in each of the Community Chests? In order from the first to the third one.

There's too many levels to make an exact decision. I've seen well only about 20-30 levels of the 96.

But there are some levels which gave me good memories :)

First one is the Nullth Precinct, the level 2 from CCH1, made by Thomas van der Velden. It's an infested police station, and really realistic! The best levels I've ever seen... also, van der Velden is my favourite mapper. (BTW, this level gave me the idea of the second map of my megaWAD)

The second one is the To hell and back, the level 7 from CCH2. It was hard as ass, but also really detailed and impressive. IMO it's too crowded for a realistic warehouse, but it doesn't matter :)

The third one is the Ventilator, the first level of CCH3. It was a hard start, but the architecture had a really good feeling, especially those houses on the high. I loved it.

The last one is Installation 07 Warszawa, the second secret level of CCH3. It's a really interesting map. Weird name, exciting start, nice architecture. The blue sky reminds me Equinox! Beyond the silver base it wasn't too exciting, but although I love this map.


This is my short summary :)

The Technodrome from CC1's one of my personal favorite maps. The bomb thing at the end was a really nice touch, also perfect for motivating the player to leave the level as quickly as possible.

I have yet to find a favorite map in the other two CC's as of yet, though I would definitely enjoy those slaughter maps packed in throughout the first three. I consider it practice enough for the upcoming fourth CC.

I'll play CCH4 surely! Not only with GOD and NOCLIP, like the other 3

Marcaek said:

but what the hell are you supposed to do in the room with the invisible bridge?

Jump on the ledge on the left and grab the key?

Giving UAC Ultra a try.

gun_psycho said:

Edit: Which are the best maps in each of the Community Chests? In order from the first to the third one.

I can't list them in any order, but anything from Pcorf, Use3d, Iori, and Dutch Devil is guaranteed quality.