About You: List 9 important Doom WADs.

[jazzmaster9]

 

My Relationship with TNT is complicated :P

[AD_79]

I don't know how to fill a couple spaces, so this'll do. Should mention that I think "hate" is too strong of a word, but I'm certainly not a fan.

 

 

Genuinely surprised (and disgusted!!!) by the sheer volume of people revealing their distaste for BTSX, by the way :P

[roadworx]

1 hour ago, AD_79 said:

Genuinely surprised (and disgusted!!!) by the sheer volume of people revealing their distaste for BTSX, by the way :P

ikr )):

 

i thought it was generally beloved

[Lippeth]

The most common complaint I hear about BTSX 1 is that it's too samey, which can wear people out.

 

I personally love the look and enjoy the consistent aesthetic, but I understand the criticism. Add to that the wide praise it gets, and I can see how people think it's overrated.

 

 

[Steve D]

Favorite Soundtrack: BTSX E1.

 

All-Time Favorite: BTSX E1. I'm a creature of the '90s, and as a result, most of my fondest Doom memories are from that time, as will soon become apparent. However, I was away from the Doom community for a long enough time to have a sort of "second period of newness," only this time it was with modern Doom. The magnificent Double Impact, along with some vicious cannonball maps, was my gateway drug to modern Doom mapping, and then along came BTSX E1 to completely knock me off my feet. There was a period of about 2 or 3 years where I could hardly go a week without completely spazzing over how much I loved this megawad. I don't spazz out as often anymore, but i still love it just as much.

 

Favorite Ending: BTSX E1. Seriously, could anything top The Unsinkable Fats Domino?

 

Haven't Played But Want To: Pirate Doom.

 

You Love, Everyone Hates: King ReOL Maps. Love might be too strong a word, but it's a fact that a big part of at least the Old Doom Community hated George Fiffy (King ReOL), and wanted him to stuff his maps up his ass. He was famous for delivering tons of hyper sector detail that brought many ancient computers to their knees. He also had an incredible amount of 'tude, plus an ego the size of Niagara Falls, making him easy to despise. I learned about the community hatred for him sort of second-hand and mostly in past-tense, because aside from knowing a few mappers, I was never a member of the community in those days. Thus, I thrilled to pages and pages of vitriolic insults directed at Mr. Fiffy, along with his acidic replies. It was a truly hilarious flamewar. As for his maps, I enjoyed several of them. They generally looked pretty decent and had good action.

 

You Hate, Everyone Loves: Scythe II. Just because I generally dislike custom monsters, and this mapset introduces some of my least-favorites.

 

Fondest Memory: Osiris. And just to prove what a hypocritical jagoff I am, I love the custom monsters and sounds in this 1995 classic that stands near the top of my all-time favorite mapsets.

 

Always Come Back To: Fava Beans. Yes, it's easy af, but that's part of its charm. It's beautifully constructed and is the perfect choice when I want a nice, relaxing bit of Doomplay.

 

Guilty Pleasure: Tie between Dinner and Satan's Hellhole, aka Cheese. Tbh, I don't feel too guilty about these. Dinner, a 1996 mapset by Damian Pawlukanis, is IMO a very fun E2 replacement which I first encountered on the cover CD of an Amiga magazine, shortly after Doom was ported to the miggy. Aside from some bland architecture and too many 64-wide hallways, I thought it was pretty fun, with some clever gameplay ideas. Satan's Hell Hole, which I always refer to as Cheese owing to its filename, Cheese.zip, is an E1M1 replacement by Matthew G. Hooper from all the way back in 1994. Famous for its nicely-done McDonald's, a cool Satan's Skull on a wall, a Cyberdemon in a coffin and a much-hated teleporter puzzle, this map is delightfully weird in the best '94 tradition.  

 

 

[Gothic]

Here's mine:

 

Favorite Soundtrack: I was torn between BtSX 2 and Going Down, and while I absolutely love the weird style of Cyriak, if I were to pick a soundtrack to listen on the background or something, I'll definitely pick this one up. I haven't heard the OSTs of mainstream megawads made by big shot members either, more on that later.

 

Favorite of all time: Scythe 2 hands down, easiest choice. Close 2nd would be Going Down.

 

Favorite ending: A hard choice, I loved the endings of both BtSX megawads, Going Down, Scythe 2 and MM8BDM, but Ultimate Torment and Torture builds up its ending with amazing music and visuals, it's hard not to reccomend it. And if you don't like climbing up the mountain, there's the secret scrapped Space Station level.

 

Haven't played but want to: There's a lot of great megawads that I haven't played yet, and Ancient Aliens is my top priority. There's also Eviternity, Valiant, Community Chest 3 & 4, Japanese Community Project, Nova 2 & 3, A.L.T., and plenty of GZDoom mods, but time, patience and realizing that I will never make maps as great as them are key elements on why I haven't played them yet.

 

You love, everyone hates: Playing Doom 2 multiple times has never been more fun with AEons of Death. Everyone critiques AEoD for being a clusterfuck of artstyles, I honestly don't mind, the randomized weapons and monsters makes dull vanilla megawads infinitely more replayable.

 

You hate, everyone loves: Sorry, but I can't just get into Eternal Doom IV. ED III is a close candidate, but at least the levels have a more classic progression. And have music.

 

Fondest memory: ZPack blew my mind back then when I didn't knew what a sourceport was. Seeing complex geometry, scripted events, colored lighting and fog and NEW MONSTERS showed me the wonders of ZDoom modding.

 

Always come back to: I didn't want to put Scythe 2 again on the list, so I put the 2nd closest choice for me, easy to get into, and gets progressively harder.

 

Guilty pleasure: Zpinochestein is stupid and ugly, but damn if it isn't fun to play, funnier if you know spanish, and even more if you know who Pinochet was. Close second would be Resurrection of Chaos, but that's a Hexen wad.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Gothic

[TJG1289]

Alright, please forgive how rough this may look: I can't remember the last time I used an image editor.

Soundtrack: Ancient Aliens was the first time I really gave a WAD soundtrack a chance. I don't really like MIDI instruments too much, at least not the ones I would typically hear in WADs before this. But seeing the praise for it on here made me decide to listen to it around The Nectar Flow, and I was blown away. It's my favorite Doom soundtrack period (sorry Bobby and Mick).

 

Favorite WAD: Ancient Aliens is the complete package. It's got the best aesthetic, color palette, and textures of any WAD I've played. It's also just really fun. The aforementioned soundtrack also helps make this a super-cohesive package.

 

Ending: I loved how you blow up the building you were heading down in Map 29, but the biggest surprise was how Map 30 went from looking like a cute ending map to an unexpected IoS fight. Total "oh shit" moment there.

 

Haven't played: I don't know how much I like really hard WADs, but I love the look and atmosphere of it. Map 29's Archvile room is the coolest fight in all of Doom. I think I'm at the skill where I can save-scum my way through on UV, so I should be able to make it through.

 

Like but others don't: I think people just don't like the author more than disliking the WAD. I love the first 2 episodes of this, as it totally turns the familiar Doom and Doom II settings and Build-engines them. Some of the best city maps in all of Doom in here.

 

Don't like but others do: I DO NOT HATE THIS. I just hit BTSX fatigue when playing this. Got to Map 15, got overwhelmed by how big and non-linear it was, and got surprised by a double Archvile closet, and just quit after dying. I had had enough. I do plan on returning to this eventually, and I am looking forward to Ep 3.

 

Memories: Super Sonic Doom was one of the first WADs I ever played. It was literally a dream come true for teen me: Doom with Sonic elements like rings, monitors, springs, and music. I loved how there were Act end bosses, with every Act 2 boss being like a Robotnik fight, where you have to wait for an opening and shoot an emerging target 8 times to defeat it. It does have some cringe story elements, and was built for a specific ZDoom build (though it has been updated for some newer GZDoom builds), so it may not have aged too well.

 

Come back to: I don't often replay WADs, so I just chose one I really liked that I have played more than once. Eviternity could be here too.

 

Guilty pleasure: It's only one for me since I don't know how well it's aged. I remember the environments being kinda blah. 

[skillsaw]

First -- I'm ruling out wads that I was involved in.

 

 

Best Soundtrack - 

I know that technically I contributed to Eviternity, but I was far from a core member of the team, and I had nothing to do with the music, so I don't mind picking it. Even though I think my favorite wad soundtracks are probably Ancient Aliens and BTSX episode (any), Eviternity is easily up there with them.

 

Favorite of all time -

Going with Scythe II, but Speed of Doom, Going Down, Eviternity, Alien Vendetta, TNT: Revilution, Doom II: In Spain Only, Doom2.wad, Sunlust, and JPCP are so, so close. I might pick one of them on another day.

 

Favorite Ending -

I absolutely love the last couple maps of Going Down and the way Mouldy used them to, uhh, 'deconstruct' Going Down's central conceit. So to speak.

 

Haven't Played But Want To:

Also, the final release of TPH and Struggle...

 

You Love, Everyone Hates

I don't think folks really 'hate' STRAIN but to me it seems less appreciated than most of the other big name 90's megawads, but it's probably my favorite of the bunch.

 

Fondest Memory

Alien Vendetta was the first community created content for Doom I played in nearly a decade. It was so new and ambitious to me at the time. After playing it, I learned Doom Builder and made Aeternum as a small tribute project to it. So it's hard to top, in terms of fondness.

 

Always Come Back To

Scythe X is so quick and fun that I replay it all the time. I've lamented that it's incomplete many times, but that's because I enjoy the 10 maps we got so much.

 

Guilty Pleasure

I think 32-in-24-14 gets kind of forgotten because it's a bunch of Christmas themed, jokey speedmaps -- and there are definitely more substantial things to spend your time on -- but honestly? I enjoy it a lot anyway, I think it's kind of underrated.

 

[cannonball]

 

Best soundtrack - Now to be clear, there have been some excellent soundtracks over the years including Ancient Aliens, BTSX. However Plutonia 2 was the moment where sound of the greats of the modern era truly came to fame (Stewboy and Jimmy), along with Jamie Robertson. The soundtrack was excellent and even the ones taken from OG Doom or other sources managed to fit. I guess this is probably nostalgia talking here. Honourable mention to MM2, which is a great classic wad.

 

Favourite wad - Valiant, Skillsaw mapping plus his uncanny knack for custom monsters along with some very creative ideas.

 

Favourite ending - Going Down - Great climax followed with a very funny map30. Not much else to say here, every note is pitched perfectly in this light hearted showcase of boom mapping.

 

Haven't played - Heartland is top of the list, at some point I need to invest outside of Vanilla/boom mapsets. I still haven't played fully the Adventures of Square or Pirate Doom. So I really need to get my backside in gear.

 

Love/Others hate - Vile Flesh - I have a soft spot for this wad that takes a lot of influence from Eternal Doom. A lot of interesting visual ideas and a real sense of adventure. There are some real gems within this set, I know that it hasn't aged particularly well but honestly, I like loading this up from time to time.

 

Hate/Others love - DTWID - Now I want to make something clear - This wad is a monumental success, however at the end of the day the game has moved on and it is hard to establish a nostalgia factor that the IWad has. I don't hate this wad, but I think this is the closest to it, honestly I found E1-3 rather dull, E4 was better and I actually liked D2TWID.

 

Fondest Memory - Nova (The Birth) - This was the point where I properly became a mapper, I had made a map here and there, but this was where I spent a more significant amount of time. This has a lot of good maps, including breakthrough maps for the likes of Mouldy and Dobu Gabu Maru. In my view the Nova series is probably one of the best community projects going, which is surprising given its primary aim.

 

Always Come Back to - Speed of Doom - Surprisingly I only really go into Doom fully when I was at University and this was the big thing back then. This still feels fresh and fantastic to this day (Helped by a cracking soundtrack). Mt Pain's review of this brought back a lot of fond memories. I would love to see Darkwave return and make more maps.

 

Guilty Pleasure - Hating Bill Gates before the whole weird conspiracy crap came up. An old school and very light hearted wad and is pretty decent for its time. This is the first PWad I ever played.  

Edited June 2, 2021 by cannonball : Added explanations

[Cheesewheel]

[Pseudonaut]

 

Favorite soundtrack: Sunlust has some of the best midis I've heard, including the ones for map04, 19, 21, and several other standouts.

Favorite of all time: Impossible to choose at this time.

Favorite ending: AA's sense of humor is one of my favorite things about it.

Haven't played but want to: Even if I try to narrow it down to the most important ones, there are too many. Also lots of wads I've only partially played.

You love, everyone hates: I haven't seen a ton of hate for Sunder or ESP, but I've seen some. The gameplay in these wads doesn't have the broadest appeal.

Fondest memory: Hell Revealed was the first megawad that I (partially) played, and I have some nostalgia for it even if it was only like 4 or 5 years ago. Gameplay-wise, I don't think it's as good as what can be found in modern wads.

Always come back to: I suppose Plutonia is the wad I've revisited the most times.

Guilty pleasure: No wad makes me feel guilty.

[Test Tickle]

Yep.

 

Ashes' soundtrack is real good, fits the mood and is nice to listen to while playing.

Urban Brawl really stands out to me, it has an interesting story and setting, a cool comic book-esque style, and is a fun spin on Doom's combat, along with a nice soundtrack. My all time favorite because it's truly different from a lot of things i've played.

The ending of Ancient Aliens is just funny for capping off the entire mapset the way it did.

I've never played Eviternity, but heard a lot of good things about it, maybe i'll try it one day.

Hell Revealed 2 specifically has a sort of vibe i like rolling with: strange soundtrack, a lightly outdated look, and a lot of difficulty.

Except for maybe Misri Halek or Dark Dome, I can't remember many maps from Alien Vendetta that stand out to me, it just doesn't appeal to me i guess.

Back to Saturn X Episode 2 had some real fun levels as well as a good sense of adventure in the hubs, slowly uncovering the way to the tower was really cool to see and the final level was a very fun experience.

UAC Ultra is just a fun levelset that i played a lot, it kinda stuck with me because i like the darker style it took on, and it is a relatively short experience.

I did put Stronghold there, but this could probably go for most invasion mode levelsets, they're just really fun to play sometimes.

Edited June 3, 2021 by pc234

[dew]

7 hours ago, esselfortium said:

You love, everyone hates: Doom 2, especially The Pit and The Chasm.

Wtf you steal from my picks and get more likes... this is war.

[ENEMY!!!]

I posted my picks earlier in the image, but I may as well give them a bit more explanation:

 

Favorite soundtrack: I picked Eviternity for this, I think there's a number of good tracks in this, the heavenly one in Map26 springs to mind, the opener in Map01, and a couple of Stewboy's efforts in the snowy Episode 3, and around Map23-25.  However, Ancient Aliens, Plutonia 2 (Jimmy's Dreadnaught is a favourite of mine) and both BTSX episodes came into consideration.

 

Favorite of all time:  As mentioned earlier, that's between Ancient Aliens and Eviternity, I just ended up giving Ancient Aliens the nod.

 

Favorite ending:  I like the last map of Ancient Aliens, it seems to tie everything up very fittingly.

 

Haven't played but want to:  There's quite a few WADs that spring to mind.  I've briefly tried a couple of maps from BTSX Episode 2 but would like to give it a proper playthrough at some point.

 

You love, everyone hates:  I voted for Hexen.  Maybe "everyone hates" is putting it a bit strongly, and I do agree with a lot of the common criticisms, particularly the emphasis on switch hunting across the hub maps.  But I like the atmosphere and I also think the Hexen soundtrack is Kevin Schilder's best.

 

You hate, everyone loves:  Again "hate" is a bit strong but I was never a fan of slaughtermaps and chose Hell Revealed mainly because it hasn't aged well, leaving little to it other than slaughter in my opinion.

 

Fondest memory:  Playing through Doom 1 in 1995 and then the 4th episode, Thy Flesh Consumed, in 1997.

 

Always come back to:  Eternal Doom IV, mainly for Espi's Map27, The Shrine.  I've completed that map four or five times and find it a useful source of mapping inspiration.

 

Guilty Pleasure:  I went for the original NeoDoom.  In my view it's somewhat rough around the edges for various reasons, hence "guilty pleasure", but many of the maps are good, and it was the first megawad that I played all the way through, back in 2006.

Edited June 3, 2021 by ENEMY!!!

[GraphicBleeder]

On 6/1/2021 at 8:18 AM, Manniacc said:

 

Might be a stretch to say that everyone hates sigil but I do like it a lot more than most people, Sunder is guilty pleasure because I don't play the maps as much as I wander in awe around them with iddqd and idclip, map30 of Speed of Doom is pure blockbuster badass!

People hate SIGIL?

[LadyMistDragon]

Don't mind if the one on the middle-far right is a little smooshed. I was trying to figure this out. Think of it as an expression of how much I dislike the idea of it.

[BunnyWithBeans]

 

 

Some of you need to learn that it's hip to be Square.

[continuum.mid]

23 hours ago, northivanastan said:

I have not played nearly enough WADs.

I thought I'd go back and explain this, since now everyone else is doing that.

 

Favorite Soundtrack: Eviternity - Just so many songs here I keep coming back to, especially from Jimmy. It's no wonder Dragonfly became a composer later because they have excellent musical taste. Confession time: I regularly listen to the full 43 minutes of the Godhood Suite.

 

Favorite of All Time: Ancient Aliens - There is no single WAD I have played that shows this much effort and skill while remaining fun, quirky, and unique. It's just the right balance of challenge and accessibility, and the story and aesthetics of the WAD are great rewards.

 

Favorite Ending: Ancient Aliens - Those last two maps, and the final text screen, are quite the thing.

 

Haven't Played But Want To: Doom 64 for Doom II - D64D2 interests me quite a bit. Regular Doom 64 seems a bit too alien for me, but I love Doom II, and this seems like a nice way to experience that part of Doom lore. Sadly, I never found a good time to formally start a playthrough, though I did get through map01.

 

You Love, Everyone Hates: Freedoom Phase 1 - I always liked Phase 1, despite the general consensus among Freedoom players that it isn't as good as Phase 2. It's as simple as Doom gets, just shoot the demons.

 

You Hate, Everyone Loves: No Rest for the Living - At the time I was playing this, big monster clusters seemed like clunky, RNG-reliant design. I found maps like Vivisection highly annoying. But I keep thinking of giving this one another chance, because since then I've improved as a player, it's gained a MIDI pack, and I've switched from Doomsday to Crispy Doom.

 

Fondest Memory: Japanese Community Project - After playing all of the commercial Doom and Freedoom IWADs through Doomsday it was time for a change, so I picked a WAD that had piqued my interest from MtPain's review and played it through Crispy Doom. I'm glad I picked this one; up until I played Ancient Aliens it was my favorite WAD, because little rivals the sheer personality that all of these maps have.

 

Always Come Back To: Japanese Community Project - There are so many levels here worth coming back to, again out of their sheer personality. The visual artistry in "Remind" and "Cakravartin's Miscalculation"; the epic adventures of map22 "A Den of Vice" and map28 "HeLLport"; the well-crafted combat puzzles of map26 "Embodiment of Maliciousness"; and the abstract glitchscape of map29 "Hazmat Hazama," just to name a few. I like Ancient Aliens more, but I could go on forever about how amazing JPCP's maps are; in brief, I cannot recommend this WAD enough to those who haven't played it.

 

Guilty Pleasure: Perdition's Gate - This isn't so much my "guilty pleasure" as the outlier among my favorites. It's a 1996 commercial WAD with comically tiny maps and mediocre "programmer art" graphics. But who cares? It's so full of character, with some of the best combat at the time, and a more fleshed out story than most WADs today have. I'm okay with saying that I love it.

[Side-O-Fries]

Favorite Soundtrack: The music in this wad is what creates such amazingly haunting atmospheres.

Favorite of All Time: There are too many masterpieces once you get past level 14 for this wad not to by my all time favorite.

Favorite Ending: What's to say that hasn't been said already?
Haven't Played But Want To: I love stupidly hard wads and this one is one of the next wads on my bucket list.
You Love, Everyone Hates: No, it hasn't aged phenomenally well.  But there's something about HR2 that will always leave a soft spot for me.  I'll always love it.
You Dislike, Everyone Loves: OK... I was originally going to put BTSX-1 here but I'm very surprised at how often I've seen that wad in this category.  I thought I was the only person who felt that.  So, to be more controversial, I'm going with Requiem.  Even back in the day, I just never thought much about the combat in this wad.
Fondest Memory: Just playing Doom II and getting the SSG for the first time back in the 90's.
Always Come Back To: Sunlust is simply amazing.  Even if it's just watching a playthrough on youtube.
Guilty Pleasure: I just like vanilla Doom.  No brutal/brutality/overkill etc. for me.  You can't fix perfection.

[terminator]

On 6/1/2021 at 11:02 PM, Dunn (& Dunn) said:

Another 9 days and it will be a year since I played Doom for the first time.

 

impressive! since the wads you make were seemingly from an experienced mapper and player, some even as if explicitly requiring skills the likes of veteran speedrunners. good luck in your future doom wad projects :)

Edited June 3, 2021 by terminator

[ReaperAA]

On 6/2/2021 at 7:49 AM, Doomkid said:

You Hate, Everyone Loves - DTWID Series. Hate is waaay too strong of a word, it is by no means a bad wad, it's quite fun actually... but to me this is the epitome of "fake 90s style mapping". I think the mark was to evoke the feeling of true "id made" maps, or at least true 90s era maps.. but it just does not stick the landing, as far as I'm concerned.

 

This was actually quite surprising for me. I thought wads DTWID/D2TWID would be right up your alley. Curious to hear what aspect about the TWID wads doesn't "feel 90s" to you.

[dac]

On 6/1/2021 at 3:18 PM, dac said:

 

I did not vibe with Kama Sutra, also Sunlust easily has the greatest final stretch in Doom modding history

 

Oh, gonna elaborate on this:

 

Favourite soundtrack: I was half-tempted to put stewboy's work on Ancient Aliens because it IS excellent, but Cyriak's work on Going Down ended up being a no brainer - it's not epic, atmospheric or rocking, but the music fits the maps even better than if they were.

 

Favourite of all time: Look, I've played Valiant this year and it was enough for it to shoot all the way to the top. skillsaw is a goddamn GOAT mapper, and this is easily his best work, if kind of underrated because Ancient Aliens came out a year and some dust later. (NOTE: Haven't played Heartland yet.)

 

Favourite ending: I've seen a lot of people going on about the final map, the final boss, the final Icon - In that view, Sunlust's finale is strong still. But in a broader context, Maelstrom / Go Fuck Yourself / God Machine is the greatest ending stretch Doom modding has known, and will probably ever know.

 

Haven't played but want to: Too many to count, the backlog is huge. But to start with one, Speed of Doom.

 

Love, everyone hates: No fuck you, switch hunting is cool, I will stan Hexen with my dying breath.

 

Hate, everyone loves: As said, I did not vibe with Kama Sutra. Granted that was years ago, but doomcute filled to exhaustion with demons is not my jam, and sometimes it feels as if the only memorable maps in that set are Stairway to Heaven and <*> - the latter for memetic value more than actually being a good ending!

 

Fondest memory: First Doom mod I ever played, and even today Cyberdreams remains unique, excellent, and deserving of more recognition. Also a sequel.

 

Always come back to: I tend to not come back to maps, but I DID play Alien Vendetta three times. That counts, right?

 

Guilty pleasure: Fredrik always was a big mapping inspiration, but even then I enjoyed Castle of Eternal Carrot in the Sky far more than I should have. It's a minor work in his catalog, but one I have a specific fondness for that the Vrack series doesn't have.

[terminator]

[Sotenga]

I lack the skills to place in proper images, but I'll participate anyway!

 

Favorite Soundtrack - TNT Revilution - 32 completely bespoke tracks contributed by several talented musicians that are somewhat evocative of classic TNT but also entirely their own thing? Sold!

 

Favorite Of All Time - Ancient Aliens - I could just say "everything Skillsaw has done" here, but AA is his crowning glory to me. It's not a perfect megawad, but it's mostly a very well-designed and challenging affair with absolutely amazing aesthetics. Stewboy also deserves a heap of credit for adding to those aesthetics, so consider his score nearly tied with TNTR.

 

Favorite Ending - Back to Saturn X Ep. 1 - Call me an emo kid, but I just love this unexpectedly somber conclusion to a solid megawad. Esselfortium's music here is absolutely impeccable. The conclusion to ep. 2 isn't quite as impactful, but damn, is it creepy!

 

Haven't Played But Want To - Three Is A Crowd - I've yet to touch this one at all, but it sounds like a bonkers madcap adventure deserving of its Cacoward. It was recommended to me as well, so I hope to give it a roll. Also, I want to beat Cyberdreams, Jenesis, and Struggle someday, though I have played them for a few maps.

 

You Love, Everyone Hates - Zen Dynamics - This classic sci-fi adventure by Xaser doesn't get enough credit nowadays, I feel. It may feel a bit dated now, but the custom weapons and enemies along with the excellent soundtrack made it a memorable experience for its time.

 

You Hate, Everyone Loves - Ultimate Torment & Torture - Apologies to Tormentor667, but I don't think his style of mapping is for me, personally.

 

Fondest Memory - TNT Evilution - I remember being proud at figuring out my way around Last Call's infamous torch platform puzzle... WITHOUT realizing the hint in the opening hallway of the map! It was sheer brute force all the way through and I maybe didn't deserve to clear it, but I did somehow, by cracky.

 

Always Come Back To - Reelism - Kinsie's crazy random shootfest is always great for a quick blast when I can't think of anything better to play. The sequel is shaping up to be great as well.

 

Guilty Pleasure - Mars War - It definitely shows its age and the pro-Linux worship is embarrassing, but for 1998, I'm impressed Nathan Lineback was able to create such a relatively solid megawad all on his own. It shows its age but is still worth examining today.

 

Since I have nothing better to do today, I'll add a few arbitrary categories to further shout out to wads that deserve it.

 

Most Gorgeous - Eviternity - I'm surprised there's a slot for music but not for graphics. Well, I don't think Eviternity needs much more lavishing for its impressive OTEX-boosted stages than it's already gotten, but eh, it deserves its praise, especially for the final episode.

 

Scariest - Going Down - While it's a very goofy wad up front, I find the premise of GD becoming more sinister as you descend makes for a surprisingly tense atmosphere, combined with Cyriak's patented brand of nightmare clown music. Maps like Black Mass, The Mouth of Madness, and especially Insanity give me the legitimate willies, quite impressive coming from a work with a comedic premise.

 

Most Improved - Alien Vendetta - I've expressed disdain for Alien Vendetta in the past and considered it overrated, but after playing some wads of lesser quality and returning to AV, I now realize just how impressive it was for its time AND manages to mostly hold up today. It is a brand of brutal that I'm not normally great with, but it's also engaging and meticulously crafted, very forward thinking for a collaborative 2002 project.

 

Most Brutal - Stardate 20X6 - I do not think I will ever be able to beat that Revenant/Cyberdemon sandwich in map 3. I've tried and I tried and I just can't do it. Curse you, Ribbiks. Gorgeous set, though!

 

Most Lamented Incomplete Project - Scythe X - Sigh. I don't think I need to explain this one.

 

Most Impressive Work Of Which I Want To See More - dead.wire/dead.air - This may just be my Xaser fanboyism at work, but I'd love to see an entire damn megawad styled after these impeccable works of surreal horror. I dunno if that would wear out their welcome, but I'm certainly intrigued by what they suggest.

Edited June 3, 2021 by Sotenga : I was very bored today

[i suck at nicknames]

saving for future reference :3

[Deadwing]

Favorite Soundtrack - Hard to choose among so many good soundtracks. I would say Plutonia 2, but I'll choose something that hasn't been mentioned and I loved the soundtrack: Struggle.

 

Favorite Of All Time - Plutonia :D

 

Favorite Ending - Ancient Aliens, the final map is amazing with the reveal of scientists, then the supposed "dream". Really cool and cinematic.

 

Haven't Played But Want To - Anything from this year lol, too many good stuff being released.

 

You Love, Everyone Hates - Nicolas monti's wads. I don't think they're hated by everyone though, but it's the best I can find for this category.

 

You Hate, Everyone Loves - Alien Vendetta. I get that it might have been good when it was released, but to me there's like 2 or 3 good levels in the set >.<

 

Fondest Memory - Scythe 1 comes to my mind.

 

Always Come Back To - Lately Ancient Aliens to use as inspiration for anything I create lol.

 

Guilty Pleasure - My own stuff lol

[galileo31dos01]

whoops I made more!

 

Spoiler

   

 

and the very first one, just so that no one has to look for it:

 

 

After making the first, temptation consumed me so besides making these extra collages (tbh they're quick and simple), I started to export titlepics and made me a folder with all of them just like I did with status bars. I value my time and doing this was fun so time well spent :p

 

And I guess I could finally elaborate on my choices:

 

Favorite soundtrack: in truth, BTSX:E1 would crown this category if it weren't because it also has my favorite ending ever. But only one image could go for each cell, no repeating allowed (personal rule!). AAliens both soundtrack and ending are elbow to elbow. Even PL2 could go here as it's one of the main things I look for when I want to play it... So there's also MM2 as a definitive top 5 favorite, its pieces still hold up and are easily some of the most recyclable older ambient-centric midis and they fit in many many places. I recently replayed Scythe 2 after four years, the soundtrack is impeccable for each theme in it. I know Hellbound doesn't have any own original custom midis, but the way most of the DN3 and multiple iwad midis are used has always clicked to perfection for me. My knowledge of music is basic, I don't go any deeper than "this sound great" or "mm it's a no for me". A lot of those soundtracks stuck in my head due to replaying the wads multiple times. Otherwise I need to give other different wads another check to familiarize better (going down, tvr, eviternity, sunlust, even tnt:r, etc).

 

Favorite of all time: the first thought is PL2, primarily a nostalgia thing. It was the first megawad I finnished after the iwads, and it opened a window to an ocean of custom stuff that otherwise I'd have never payed attention. It has also been my 'always come back' choice by default for years. The one category it'd never fit is in best finale (ironically, it's my most hated finale ever... but I love the rest!... okay, most of the rest). Then there's NEIS and Resurgence, both being of the most influential and what "gave birth" to my (lazy) desire to map. The other two, Violence and Dimension of the Boomed, are wads that I recall not finding a single thing to complain, and I'm a nitpicky ball breaker. 

 

Favorite finale: well, BTSX:E1 duh. I remember that I placed all my personal 10/10 score in that ending, without actually considering my few gripes with other maps, heh. Ezekiel's is a representation of the original E3's cutscene, complete with an ultimate adventure inside the destructed place. A straightforward win for me, I always wanted to see how such thing would look like. Sunlust needed to go somewhere. I haven't revisited it enough to build my overall thoughts about it, but the finale definitely stuck for being grandiose and breath-taking. And not an IoS. It's rare that I find an iteration of the og setup legitimately fun or different. The D2INO is perhaps the first and one of the few that I did very much enjoyed, conceptually. There's the first time, blind and without knowing what to do, which may or may not end with a sour taste in my mouth, and if I replay the wad, a second time that usually goes better. D2INO's was exciting since the beginning, so that's a standout. And the last one is for creativity and theatrics together, Dark Scythe's two endings (the second must be seen).

 

Haven't played but want to: the list goes on and on. Nihility is the oldest of these. The demo has been sitting in my doom folder for a very long time, practically untouched (I mean, I did play two or three maps, but I called it quit several times). I'm still waiting for the other episodes :l

 

You love, everyone hates: every now and then I read something unnecessary hateful towards Urania. It has received backlash for not being devoted to the fast and quick pace of Plutonia, or even its signature aesthetics, throughout the years (I'm not talking about constructive feedback, mind you). I thought the mapping was rather unique and colorful, barring other stuff, it did feel rewarding to complete it back then. So, aside from that, I didn't know what else to choose. It's not like I loooove Epic 2 or Eternal Doom, but I'm on the side of the people who find them not boring at least... depending on my mood. City of Doom is a rare gem for me, while it got mixed reviews, but no hate afaik. And, well, does anyone even hate Skepland... 

 

You hate, everyone loves: hate is too strong.... although I must admit I barely could digest HoCX. Lots of interesting ideas, doom and hexen monsters in heretic, but good god the horde-based combat in corridors with block lines and weak weapons and whatnot. Maybe I had too different expectations. I never went back to finnish it, or Earth, another I barely enjoyed. 

 

Fondest memory: aside from the nostalgia factor in Requiem or SoD, there's Sacrament last map, which has perhaps the best horror adventure I've seen in a post-apocalyptic doom map. I'm very very fond of that map, even though it'll stay as a one time experience. Or well, Maskim Xul also nailed that psychological horror aspect of the game with its own additions. Stuff like that sticks in my mind as much as traditional doom shoot-kill-smirk gameplay from my other favorites. Lastly, I adored the puppies in REKKR.

 

Always come back to: usually after a doom detox period of time I'd come back to either final doom (most likely always soon or later), or some other vanilla wad that I can play in crispy with the power of relaxation and foreknowledge. So, sometimes it's MM2 or Requiem, other times PL2, KSutra, AV, strain, etc. I often do replay boom wads, resurgence mostly between my first considerations. They don't have to be all time favorites, or the smartest choices for a legit relaxing time...

 

Guilty pleasure: eh, again a bit of a dramatic phrase that I don't quite adhere to personally speaking. But yeah, the few I could think of that might fit in this mold, are coincidentally lesser popular wads (sans Preacher). There's something about unpopularity that makes them more attractive to me for whatever reason. There's no guilt or shame in feeling this way... between the five, 5till is the one closest to how I felt in Sacrament's last map, and I know some folks had expressed ear fatigue from Preacher's happy main character, but I never get tired of him screaming words I on't know :P ... So, on the other side, we got Armadosia, Garrulismo, and Scientist 2, three wads that I really like and dislike at the same time. They belong to the echelon of wads with formal balance towards playing in sequence, with odd old-school pistol start inconsistencies like early hitscan hell and armor and/or strong weapons nearing the end. But I love the uniqueness and commitment behind the overarching ideas in them. Armadosia's cursed progression had me exhausting the editor for nearly every map, and by the time I finnished I was like "hmm, now I want to make demos!". I've been saying for a while, it puzzles me how very little recognition Garrulismo had in the community, specially in those "recommend me wads like doom 2" topics that pop up every now and then. And SCI2 has a cacodemon machine generator. Do I need to say more?

 

 

uh, this went on forever :x

[roadworx]

On 6/5/2021 at 2:25 PM, Deadwing said:

You Love, Everyone Hates - Nicolas monti's wads. I don't think they're hated by everyone though, but it's the best I can find for this category.

why would anyone hate monti's wads ))):

[Roofi]

5 minutes ago, roadworx said:

why would anyone hate monti's wads ))):

 

I personally don't hate them but I always have the feeling that his levels look the same  , so it rapidly exhausts me. I can play some monti's levels but not an entire megawad.

 

Also most of the maps look too abstract imo to be memorable.

 

I really respect his unique style though and how he manage to create very interconnected non-orthogonal layouts.

[Spectre01]

3 hours ago, roadworx said:

why would anyone hate monti's wads ))):

People who are very strict about texture alignment. :P