Doom 1&2

Finally got the chance to sink my teeth into these two games, the classics. Snagged the Switch versions and finished both with the exception of the last episode of Doom 1 (Episode 4), which had a broken save-game for me, but I wasn't really enjoying that episode anyway.

I've already got some notes lined up for a possible article, but currently trying to arrange an interview with Romero (the game's level designer) if possible. Guy seems really 'one of us', I mean just look at this:



But yeah, I have to say I didn't really like Doom II all that much and that Doom I peaked in Episode 1 for me, ironically those are Romero's levels. And when I say liked those levels, I mean really liked to the point that I might consider them an example to everything gaming has to offer, now and in the future.

While everyone keeps gushing about E1M1, the first level, I really feel E1M2 is the best mission around in the game, and maybe even the entire hobby itself. The whole concept of Doom is that you're in a high stakes combat scenario with exploration, and they did that pretty well. They focused on a few things from what I'm gathering, namely Contrast and "new shit". Basically every room has to have contrast in it, think different lightings, elevations, textures and such. But rooms also need to contrast with each other in shape. No big square rooms after big square rooms, instead you have a lot of diagonal rooms with close quarter fights followed by a U shaped room with two elevations for example. Add to that the tease of secret locations - E1M2 starts with you seeing an armour in the distance that you cannot reach conventionally - and you've got a golden formula.

Combat wise the game has only a few foes, but tries to use every combination possible in combination with its areas, you'll never get the same fight twice in Doom 1 Episode 1: Knee deep in the Dead. And I think that's why I like it best, as the later episodes and also Doom II feel more like 'just throw huge numbers at them' than smart thought out engagements.

The weapons feel great though as do the secrets and what they offer. All in all really can understand why they hold the games in such high appeal, but especially concerning Doom1's first episode.

Also have to note the excellent difficulty modes, with Ultra Violence changing up enemy locations significantly, basically creating a new game. While Nightmare totally changes the formula, forcing speedy play, as enemies respawn infinitely.

What are your guy's thoughts, ever played them?

HAHAHAHA he sounds like me.

I've played these old ones and the one on Xbox, Doom 3 I guess. They scared the shit out of me, even the old ones with the 2D enemies. The really struck me as 100% horror games.

Doom 3 really was more of a horror game, never could get into it as much as these ones. Doom 1 isn't really horror to me (anymore), more derpy or metal horror.

What the hell is metal horror?

I played both of them. I still need to finish the forth episode and the rest of Doom 2. I would also like to try out Doom 3 again.

> Metal horror
I have absolutely no clue haha, just a dumb term I came up with. Like the game just screams metal. Reminds me of the old Heavy Metal magazines.

> Nadster
What did you think of them?

I found the two Doom games very fun to play. I think the first episode was the best in Doom. I think the third episode might have the most complex maps in the game. I had to look up a couple levels because I really didn't know what to do next or where to go. Like that one level with the teleportation devices. There was also that one level with a castle and a lot of radiation suits. My memory is getting hazy. Overall, I think that the first episode has the best maps. The second episode has the best boss and the third episode is the most challenging. Although the fourth episode might change that.

I only played a few levels of Doom 2 and I stopped because I wanted to finish the original. The levels are very fun to play. I also love using the Super Shotgun. Is there any Backpacks of Ammo in Doom 2? I forgot. I think it would make the game too easy but I wish that the ammo capacity would increase for each Backpack you get.

These are two of the first games I ever played, and I still hold them in very high regard. I pretty much completely agree with what you said; Doom 2 was always my favorite of the two but after replaying it, there’s way too many goofy gimmicks and thoughtless enemy placements. The new enemy types are also some of the worst in the old batch: Pain elementals are just a spawn point for lost souls and archviles encourage you to hide and stop moving. E1 of the first game was always my favorite for its level design and distinct atmosphere. Never was a fan of the levels that took place outdoors.

Shooters of that time are just so incredible. The gameplay was always the most important aspect. DOOM 1&2 are some of the best. 1 has better levels, 2 has the super shotgun. IMO they have to be played on Ultra Violence to understand and appreciate the design.

If you are feeling the classic shooter itch, I highly recommend BLOOD. It just got a re-release on steam so it is easy to play. It is personally my favorite old school fps, almost purely for the weapon design. In DOOM when you get the chaingun, the pistol becomes useless. In BLOOD every gun has uses and on it's UV equivalent, you need to master them all to do well.

Check out Civvie 11, he makes great videos on classic shooters.

@Nadster
I don't really recall the third episode other than that the levels were incredibly mazelike yeah. Episode 4 was the hardest imo, with E4M1 really taking the cake for me, incredibily hard level. I think Doom2 did have backpacks now that I think about it. Super shotgun is fantastic, but also feels a tad too good.

@Infinity_Divide
Yeah DoomII looks great, and starts great (E1M1 and E1M2 are amazing stages), but it doesn't really hold up later-on for me especially when you go to 'earth' which is just weird abstract 'buildings' that aren't buildings at all.

@hedfone
I've had Blood be recommended to me on numerous occasions. Is this the best version?
https://www.gog.com/game/blood_fresh_supply
The weapon layout looks absolutely divine, though I admit to some preference for shooters where you can only aim sideways (i.e. Doom). But these weapons look really, really good. I like how even something basic like a pistol is changed into an interesting weapon. Reminds me a tad of Painkiller.

So what do you guys think of the Doom mods on PC? I also would like to mention what is known as the worst Doom port the 3DO version. I want to show you this.

ROY

Fresh supply is a great version.
I personally prefer bloodgdx, but I am super nitpicky about very small details.

You can play the game without up and down look aswell. I play BLOOD on the hardest normal difficulty with a controller only looking left and right, the auto aim up and down is fine for me.

Sent from Topic'it App

What difficulty would you recommend? I bought Fresh Supply but some settings are absolutely murdering me. Should I start on Well Broiled?

The game has a steep learning curve, like Ng. Once it clicks though, it's great. I would say start on the second difficulty until you learn the weapons well. Like NG the capacity of the enemies goes up with each difficulty, so playing each is more unique than just get hit harder.
Also don't be afraid to quicksave if you clear a particularly difficult room

DOOM and DOOM II will get a big console update, including more classic WADS like No Rest for the Living, Sigil, Final DOOM and also a 'shop' where you can download community WADS. Absolutely fantastic.

Oh shit, this is awesome for someone like me who doesn’t have a functioning computer. Can never have too much classic Doom.

This is a fantastic update. I'm still firmly in the "Fuck Bethesda" camp but this is a really good move from them.

I really need to get round to playing Sigil at some point. Are the 3 WADs in the video the only 3 being released or are we to expect more?

Those three are the only WADS that will get an official release, then a lot of community-megawads will be added to the 'shop' for download (free of charge).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrd2_feDYM

Pretty sweet, XLH is a reknowed DMC/Action player, and here he is doing a pistol-start of Doom Episode 1 on Nightmare. Really great to see!

Been pistol-starting Plutonia Experiment on UV with no saves (saving between levels), and damn this is so much fun. The Casali brothers' aesthetic sense is nothing special, but their combat designs more than make up for it.

The base Doom 2 maps are pretty inconsistent in quality, with some fun maps like Suburbs mixed with dogshit like Barrels of Fun. Plutonia is all gas no brakes (at least so far; I'm on map 7) and much more challenging, especially on pistol starts.  

The Plutonia holy trinity of Chaingunners, Revenants, and Archviles (and the lesser deity Pain Elementals) is in full force here, with some nasty placements and traps that shows how interesting they are when used and combined creatively. Archviles in particular are awesome, one of the best enemies in gaming. You can also see how important the super shotgun's addition in Doom 2 was, as most of the enemies would be far too spongy without it.

It's also funny to notice the similarities to shmups that pop up here and there: how important routing is to success, how tap-dodging can be used to stream Arachnotron shots, how space control becomes a key factor against Pinkies, Spectres, Hell Knights, and Barons, and how important speedkilling Archviles and Pain Elementals is before they can spawn too many enemies.

I'm also using a custom MIDI pack that replaces the default Doom 1/2 music, it's pretty awesome so far and adds some atmosphere to the levels.

> pistol starting Plutonia
Jesus christ.

I still remember his glorious quote of saying "I have no respect for people who play something hard and then complain it is too hard". Love the man!

> doom II
I love its enemy rooster but honestly the maps are just downright terrible looking back. Even when first playing it they felt off to me. When I finally reached a map that had a giant arrow on the ground indicating where I had to go I knew I was in for some bad map design. It's a bit 'typical' to say but I really feel Episode 1 of Doom 1 is where the series peaked.

Had so much fun doing that Episode over and over on UV Pistol Start and later also on nightmare (dear god). Episode 4 was pretty great too imo.

Apparently the Xbox episode is really good too but I never played that one sad to say.

>Dario Casali quote
Yeah that's a funny one, the interview that's from is interesting for those who haven't read it.

>Plutonia pistol start
It's pretty hard but not unbeatable or anything, the maps were pretty obviously designed to be played this way with how deliberately the weapon drops are placed (or withheld) in key sections. The sight of that Plasma Gun, Rocket Launcher, or BFG makes your mouth water (as it should) but of course they are rarely given for free; you gotta pay for it in ammo and blood.

>Doom 2 maps
Yeah they can be kinda bad, Downtown is infamous for the arrow telling you which building to go in. Barrels of Fun and Icon of Sin are horrendous as well. There are some good ones though, I like Tricks and Traps (classic level), Refueling Base, Suburbs, The Courtyard, and The Living End.

>Doom 1 maps
I agree that the 3 main episodes get worse as they progress. Episode 1 is very good, maybe a bit overrated for my tastes, but still excellent. 2 is a mixed bag, 3 is a mixed-er bag. I quite liked 4, E4M2 (Perfect Hatred) in particular is my favorite Doom 1 level. It feels like Romero knows what you don't want to see at every turn and then throws that very thing at you, but it's never something you can't ultimately overcome. You can definitely see the impetus for creating the Super Shotgun though, killing Barons with the regular shotgun is really slow and can get kinda boring.

>custom WADs
I've seen videos of some of these and they look superb. Back to Saturn X, Valiant, and Sunlust (extremely difficult) in particular caught my eye, although there are a ton more great ones out there. The custom MIDIs also add a lot of atmosphere.

>enemy design
I really feel the Doom 2 enemies are much more interesting and deep than the Doom 1 ones. That's not to say the Doom 1 enemies are bad per se, but the Doom 2 ones are much deeper and have the potential to interact with each other in more interesting ways. Here are two of my favorite examples:

The Revenant's homing missiles take space to dodge (but less and less as you get better at precisely moving around them and misdirecting them into walls) which creates a natural tension when combined with space-hogging enemies like Pinkies and Barons. However, the missiles' homing properties can be used to your advantage by guiding them into other demon types to start infights. If you get stuck in close range with a Revenant, its missiles will shred you quickly, but you can save yourself by rapidly entering and exiting its melee range to make it whiff punches over and over instead of shooting you. Risky and difficult, but rewarding.

The Archvile is a fast, must-kill threat whose ability to resurrect nearby enemies and long-range, high-damage hitscan flame blasts dominate the field if left unchecked. Said attack does massive damage, but unlike other hitscanners, the damage is all compressed into one extremely delayed moment, so the long, interruptible windup is a great opportunity for a damage dump. You will want to be squeezing as much damage from each of these openings as possible, as when the Archvile isn't attacking you, it's running around, and when it's running around, it's looking for bodies to revive.

A fun trick if you can't break line of sight in time is to hug a chest-high wall opposite the Archvile: the wall will absorb the explosion and you will only take the direct damage portion of the attack, while avoiding the blast damage. I actually do this at 2:51 in the video below.

None of the Doom 1 enemies are as interesting IMO, except for maybe the Cyberdemon (because of his insanely high damage, and how dangerous the splash from his rockets can be) and the Cacodemon (because of the whole floating thing).

Some gameplay I captured from Plutonia, Map 07 on UV, pistol start with 100% kills/secrets. Really fun map.

>WADs
I mostly glimpsed these things through Decino's coverage. Haven't watched anything from him in a long while, however. Think I stopped a little ways into some Plutonia coverage of his. Custom enemies, weapons, levels, etc. definitely spice things up.

Played some doom64 for the first time since it is on game pass.
The first couple levels made a fantastic impression. Fantastic level design. Enemy hit reactions are top notch.
Also the enemy attacks are animated and telegraphed very well. Super easy to dodge ranged and melee.
You can even bait close melee swipes from ranged enemies and dodge. Great game so far.

>so far
I can't fully recall the N64 coverage. I know there were some complaints I could agree with (beyond just the look of some redesigns). Personally, I liked Pain Elementals (and Lost Souls) getting buffed as threats. A pity about Archville, Revenant, etc.

Finally beat Plutonia on Ultra-Violence with pistol starts, no mid-level saves, (almost) all kills, and all secrets! (aka UV MAX category for speedrunning) I only looked up the secrets after I was at the end of the map.

Overall it was really fun, pretty tough but not nearly as impossible as some people made it out to be. The difficulty is actually kind of frontloaded, the latter half is still hard but not as ball-busting as some earlier maps. It helps that most of the maps are nice and bite-sized; each one has only about 70 monsters, so I was able to beat a map or two per play session.

The quality is also frontloaded a bit too, as with all the official Doom 1/2 stuff for the most part, but here the problem isn't nearly as bad as id's levels. I'll reiterate that I think this is easily the best of the official maps, it's not really close.

For maps 11, 27, and 30 the kills are a bit weird.

• 11 has 4 archviles in a trap exit which the UV MAX rules allow you to skip.
  
  
• 27 has a blocked archvile that's intended to be unreachable, but you can technically kill it with ~60 rockets because of the infinite-height splash damage. I just skipped this.
  
  
• 30 is Icon of Sin who spawns monsters constantly, I couldn't find UV MAX rules for this so I did it normally.
  

Special mention goes to the secret maps 31 and 32.

Map 31, Cyberden, is fittingly enough a coliseum of cyberdemons. Intimidating at first, but each are only fought one-on-one, so it's quite reasonable once you acclimate yourself. These duels serve as a good practice ground for dodging their attacks and prepares you for the much scarier ones in Map 32.

Map 32, Go 2 It, is an insane slugfest that tests everything you've learned, I saved it for last. The whole map is themed around a distorted version of Doom 2's Map 01, but packed to the gills with the toughest enemies of the roster. 206 enemies total, including 49 revenants, 28 mancubi, 26 arachnotrons, 19 archviles, and a whopping 13 (!!!) cyberdemons, most of which are clumped next to each other! Ammo is abundant, and if you ration the 9 megaspheres smartly, they will last you until the end, but you need to play smart and create a plan of attack to have any hope of success.

Mastery of the BFG is absolutely critical to this map. The crowd control it offers is invaluable against groups of heavy demons with back-rank archviles, and the single target damage is by far the most efficient way to kill cyberdemons. The cyberdemons in the hallways are deadly unless you use an old deathmatch trick: fire the main shot at a wall, then quickly rush in front of the target to send the delayed cone of tracers straight into them.

I definitely want to get into some custom WADs at some point after this, there is a ton of nuance in the fundamentals of this game that is only really brought out by smart map design. Now that I think about it Heretic custom WADs could be interesting, that game really needed some better maps.

Going to give this a shot later too based on your review, I remember playing it but never did a run like you mentioned. Curious to hear though that you found the game to get technically easier, you'd think later maps were harder as they assumed a more decked out Marine to enter the maps.

Nice, it's a good time! Pistol starts are definitely the way to go IMO, makes the resource management element much stronger when you need to earn your toolkit and watch your ammo.

Also brings out the map design much more; many encounters are designed around you having/not having certain weapons, and carrying weapons from previous maps mostly invalidates that element.

Highly, highly recommend the custom MIDI pack https://www.jamespaddockmusic.com/doom/plutonia-midi-pack/composed by the community. Really adds to the atmosphere, and each map has its own track which keeps things fresh.

Any source port should be able to load it, though IDK how to use the official Unity one. Personally I used GZDoom with compatibility settings on Doom (strict) for this playthrough. Obviously don't use jumping or vertical mouse look, and if you don't have it on already enable auto-run!

>difficulty
I don't think it was intentional per se, it's mainly from the small quality drop IMO. Less devious monster placement = less difficulty.

Some of it's from me improving, but I went back and played some earlier maps after Icon of Sin to get full kills and secrets, and they are pretty hard. The beginning of 4, 7 in general, the last room in 9, and most of 12 are particularly rough.

If you need tips I can share some basic stuff that I've learned, many strategies are more nuanced than they may appear.

Found this old article on Doom from a developer of the shmup Blue Revolver.

A lot of it resonates with me even just comparing Plutonia and most Doom 1/2 id levels; the difference is probably even more stark if you consider other custom WADs.

Honestly I feel like this whole section of gaming (action, FPS, etc.) is critically misunderstood, it's really weird for me to think about.

Great article and indeed hits the nail on the head. The series (and subgenre in general) is mostly relegated to "dumb shooters" where you "grab a gun and just turn off your brain" - even by some of its creators. It is what put me off from them for quite a while and also why I didn't play Halo for example - it's a game for dumb players that don't want nuance. Right?

A similar stereotype as present in action games (just mash buttons for fancy animations).

The question is a pretty solid one too. If the game is so 'simple', why has it mesmerized designers for 20+ years and is it still getting fan content?

Tim Rogers, view at your own peril...

Have we not already established that these are mechanically blind degenerates? There's nothing to think about. They're simply stupid people who have no idea what they're talking about.

Finished Doom 64 on Watch Me Die, pistol starting and with limited usage of mid level saves.
This was my first experience with classic Doom and I like it for the most part. The action is good and I like the emphasis on projectile dodging, with projectiles having different hitboxes and speed.
The weapons are great and are all powerful. The only weapon that gets completely overshadowed by another is the Plasma Gun vs the Unmaker, but you only get both in a couple of levels.
Very simple enemies but you get to see a lot of combinations of them. Unfortunately Doom 64 lacks some of the Doom 2 monsters which could have benefitted a lot, especially the Revenant, since the game starts throwing lots of Hell Knights and Barons at you, which are pretty boring.
Decent level design, very claustrophobic and labyrinthic, but still great for combat encounters. There is a problem with switches sometimes, which open something that you don't know where they are. The earlier levels fix this by placing a computer near the switch which can be interacted with to show a security camera which makes you see which part of the level has changed. This gets dropped in the hell levels (which are the majority of the game), and it sucks. Also some secrets are really obtuse, but they are supposed to be secrets after all.
Great atmosphere in general. This game still looks fantastic. Didn't care too much for the soundtrack, too droney for my tastes.
Lastly, difficulty. Without pistol starts this game is a joke, but with it you really have to consider what to use and against whom if you don't want to be left without ammo. I'd go so far as to say that some levels are too stingy with ammo in general, they just give you enough to get by sometimes and that's it.
Overall a positive experience, and will certainly try Doom 1 and 2 (plus Plutonia) in the future.

Good write-up, also interesting since it was your first experience with the classic-series. I assume you played the re-launched version and not the N64 original?

> doom 2 monsters
Doom 2 still has the best selection of monsters imo, it really makes for the best maps as a result. Though the weapon-balance is a bit busted in there imo (it never quite reached BLOOD levels of weapon design).

Did you play the Doom Eternal mission? There's apparently a mission of Doom 64 that ties into Doom Eternal that they added to the re-release.

I played the Nightdive 2020 relelease on Steam. Didn't notice any problem and from what I've read it's pretty much perfect accuracy wise.

>weapon balance
Yeah, even here you will mostly use the chaingun, SSgun and rocket launcher for a vast majority of the encounters, which gets a bit boring after a while.

>Doom Eternal mssion
Not yet. I only finished the base levels, I still have to do the secret levels, FUN levels and lost levels.

Also another thing about the game that didn't like that much, which is damage RNG. A bit of fluctuation is fine (even though I don't like it that much), but having an attack deal from 10 to 80 damage is just ridiculous. There is simply too much variation.
Also really liked how the designers sometimes placed the monster where they aren't well visible. They especially do this with Nightmare Imps (which are purple and a bit transparent), which are sometimes located far away and against a purple background, making them harder to see.

Nice work, I've only played a bit of 64 myself but it seems fun.

>ammo
Infighting is one of the most unique parts of Doom and is a great way to save on ammo and speed up many encounters. Berserk punches also do massive damage, but are tricky to use and often risky. As mentioned above I haven't played much 64 though, so this might not apply to whatever specific levels you're referring to though.

>enemies
The Doom 2 enemies are brilliant IMO, 1's enemies were a great starting point for id but 2 is really the fulfillment of the roster, so much so that custom WADs have generally been extremely conservative with adding new enemies.

>damage ranges
It doesn't bother me all that much but I see why it turns people off, the most egregious case is probably when you get very lucky/unlucky with some big damage attack like a baron fireball.

>Nightdive
They are a very accomplished reverse-engineering studio a la Bluepoint, they usually do great work. Blood Fresh Supply is an unfortunate exception but even in that case it was partially due to factors outside their control.

> damage values
It isn't too bad compared to others in the series IIRC. DOOM-3 has the most wack shotgun damage out of the series from what I remember, with it doing between 5 and 150 damage depending on pellets that hit and damage-RNG. It's technically both the weakest and strongest weapon in the game. One of the reasons, I assume, behind this idea is that they want you to get closer up.

>Infighting
One of the coolest aspect of Doom and something I wish more games did in general, even to a more limited degree. It really adds to the decision making. In Doom 64 there are some levels where infighting is deactivated unfortunately, but with it those would have been too easy, so it was the right call.

>custom WADs have generally been extremely conservative with adding new enemies
I think that WADs creators like to focus more on creating new combinations of enemies with creative layouts rather than implementing something completely new. Would it still be Doom with new enemies in it?

>Blood Fresh Supply
They were fixing it but stopped because they had to start working on other projects iirc. At least there is NBlood and Raze.

>damage
When you get hit it's always a gamble but for most of the Doom Guy weapons it doesn't make that much of a difference, and I still don't get why they implemented it with such large ranges also for the weapons. The CG, Chainsaw and PG have fast fire rates, evening out the RNG. Shotty and SSgun have more pallets which accomplish the same thing. The RL deals damage from both the direct impact of the rocket and the splash damage, so even there the damage doesn't fluctuate all that much. Same goes for the BFG. The only weapons that get screwed from the RNG are the pistol (which you'll use for about 10 seconds even when pistol starting) and the fists, which with Berserk sometimes kill Pinkies in one punch and sometimes in three.
The only good RNG elements are the pain chances, which help you always remain vigilant and make the fights more dynamic.

> infighting
It was promoted in Eternal, though sadly absent outside of some 'cinematic' moments where they deal 0 damage to eachother, which is a shame. The most important element of it was that it substracted nothing, but added everything. It allowed for some creative play, but if you didn't know of it/ used it, the game still functioned just fine. Ironically, despite me not liking it, Star Wars Fallen Order actually has infighting which is pretty funny.

> WAD new enemies
I think this also has to do with complexity. Doom's mapmaker is so optimized these days, it's hard to deviate from it perhaps. There are total-conversion mods, but a lot of those (and this includes propper sequels) miss the mark. They tend to fall into the pitfall of later Doom episodes, that being "throw as much shit as possible at the player" instead of having encounters stay interesting through a combination of hazards+enviroment+movement+enemy combinations+weapon availability. An Imp+Cacodaemon is a totally different fight if you're standing in an empty room, or on a thin edge with little room to manouver and only a chainsaw as your weapon etc.

> Fresh Supply
As a newbie to the game, I found said release to work just fine. There's obvious shortcomings, but after the big patch it plays pretty well. It's not like Black-vs-Sigma or whatever I feel.

> rng
I think they should've just kept it on a set base, i.e. RPG does max damage on direct hit, 50% on splash and 25% on max-splashdistance or w/e. The randomization makes for annoying optimization of tactics and speedrunning as well. On the one hand I fully get it, but most guns already have multiple factors to keep them interesting that RNG wasn't needed.

That said, what's next? Will you be playing the originals now?

I would still recommend Doom 3 with an open mind as well, just be sure to avoid BFG-edition. But we can talk more about that title when (or if) you get to it.

>Fresh Supply
I also started with that before switching to Raze (only reason I chose it above NBlood was the crouch toggle) and it wasn't that bad, but after reading the differences there is a lot. Also there was a bug where the zombie heads would remain stuck and continually do their kicking noise and it was driving me nuts.

>RNG
Completely agree.

>what's next?
Will probably finish 64. I still have to do the Lost Levels, secret levels and FUN levels. Started the lost ones and they are already harder than anything in the base game. So many Pain Elementals (and they are much more annoying than the Doom 2 ones). After this will start Doom 1, 2 and Plutonia. If I really start to get into them I might try some custom WADs.

>Doom 3
I doesn't look that appealing tbh. I feel like that if I choose to go down that route I might as well play F.E.A.R. at that point, but I don't know that much about Doom 3 besides a couple of videos I've seen.

> D1+2
My personal favourite of the classic Doom's is still Doom 1's first episode, there's something 'pure' about how it handles things. Later episodes and entries tend to double down on the maze like structure or giant waves, but stuff like E1M2 just flows so naturally with such great little secrets, they are an absolute joy to play and replay.

> Doom 3
It might still be my favourite. It plays very, very different yet has a lot of things in tact. The horror is a bit more emphasized, especially in the intro, but enemies react very nicely and there's a ton of secrets (though not 'labled' as secrets, they are just very well hidden ammo, health and weapons that require tricky jumps or exploration). It's biggest flaw imo is its length, it goes on for too long. But playing it as intended, especially when it came out, it really was ahead of its time imo.

Note that mechanically, it's a step back imo. But it really fuses all the core elements of what make a good game together. It's one of those great games that mixes story, atmosphere, music, storytelling, combat, exploration etc. together seemlessly in what is basically Carmack's desire to make cool lighting systems. Even the way you interact with computers etc. is pretty novel for the time (overdone today sadly).

It also has probably the best 'highest difficulty' mode in the series. Nightmare requires absolute knowledge of the game to beat, as your lifebar is constantly draining in that mode (to a minimum of 25), but you have a few bonusses at your disposal. Very unique mode!

>It might still be my favourite
That's surprising. I thought it was a generic horror lite shooter with little to no mechanical intricacies or interesting elements, but good to know I was wrong. Might also give it a try in the future.

It's not as mechanically deep as the previous titles for sure, but it's also far more complex than most modern takes give it. Granted, the BFG-edition nuked the regular game from orbit, so if you play that game then yes it is an absolutely dull horror lite shooter.

It takes a bit of modding to get the game running on modern systems with the original art-style, but it's worth it imo. Very unique experience.

Finished all the remaining Doom 64 levels (lost, fun and secret levels) pistol starting. The lost episodes are the new maps made exclusively for the 2020 release of Doom 64 and are the best and most difficult normal levels in the game, since they were made without the N64 controller and power limitations. Despite this, however, they still feel like Doom 64 levels (except for a reduced number of Hell Knights/Barons encounters thank god). Better final level than the one of the normal campaign also, but the final boss itself can be trivialized even on pistol starts since you get a fully powered up Unmaker in the level anyway.
They also kinda connect the game to Doom Eternal, but it wasn't really needed imo since the original ending works just as fine for that purpose.

The FUN levels are basically gimmick slaughter maps that can only be accessed via warping, which you unlock after clearing Hectic, the secret level of the first map. Clearing it will also unlock cheats, which was a nice reward for what is essentially one of the most difficult levels of the game (the fucking HK trap especially). Overall the FUN maps were good, a nice change of pace from the more maze and puzzle heavy levels of the main campaign, and also pretty tough while remaining creative with their gimmicks. The only problem with them is that the game lacks the Spiderdemon, so they just start throwing lots of Cyberdemons at you without as the level climax which is a bit lame (every FUN level ends with at least one CD).
Also great secret levels, better on average than the normal maps. Creative traps and combat encounters with a high level of challenge. Also In the Void is pretty great visually (can't overstate how good the game still looks).

>BFG edition botched
Heard about this. I'll add it to the list of botched rereleases of FPS.

Came across this excellent video about the Revenant. Great stuff, you can see how much space control matters.

Suddenly had a strong itch to play Doom recently, this game is so fucking good. I wrote a big article gushing about it: https://backloggd.com/u/HotPocketHPE/review/501715/

Currently playing Alien Vendetta on Ultra-Violence, pistol start, 100% kills, no mid-level saves. You can definitely tell it's older because there are a few levels that have dumb stuff in them, but I'm having lots of fun overall. About halfway through now, just beat Map 32:



The importance of positioning and space control is unmatched, no other shooter comes remotely close (except maybe Serious Sam? Haven't really played it). This is the shit I crave.

Alien Vendetta complete! Ultra-Violence, pistol starts, all kills, no mid-level saves (with the exceptions below):

20 - Misri Halek: This is more of an adventure map, it's kinda long and I'm not a fan of the procedural-feeling monster placements. Apparently it was very influential for its scale and aesthetic sense in 2002, I can see and appreciate it but playing it now doesn't wow me all that much. I'm glad I used saves because I would have really disliked it otherwise.
27 - Stench of Evil: Exhausting map (not in a good way) placed right after two behemoth maps. Way too grindy and linear, and way way too fucking long. Great aesthetics though.
28 - Whispering Shadows: Similar to above, not a fan of this map and there are some obnoxious Cyberdemon placements.
30 - Point Dreadful: Icon of Sin map, these are always stupid so I use saves. I saved Dark Dome as the last level so I wouldn't end on this.

Overall quite an enjoyable megawad, here are some personal favorite maps:

10 - Toxic Touch: Love the atmosphere here, great lighting and the MIDI totally sells it. Combat isn't groundbreaking but the flow of hitscanners keeps tension sharp. Might be the best sewer level I've played in a game?
13 - Suicidal Tendencies: Great map with a great band as its name. Love the Cyberdemon placement in the central warehouse room where enemies from other fights can trickle in, and the swarms of fodder enemies are good fun to mow down. The start with the shotgunners is a wake-up call for those who aren't ready for a difficulty jump.
14 - Overwhelming Odds: An explosive intro where you're surrounded on all sides lives up to the map's name. The 2 Cybers in the slime pit create a great decision point: keep them alive to help thin the massive Cacodemon cloud, but risk stray rockets and Cacos throwing you off?
32 - No Guts No Glory: Compact slaughter with a short runtime. Hard-nosed but manageable, the sheer proximity of everything is fun to handle. Plays like a mini-Dark Dome, good preparation for it. Telefragging the Cybers is a bit too random for my liking though.
26 - Dark Dome: Foreboding and brutal, the map starts with you locking eyes with Cybers and Archviles under the titular Dark Dome, and the near-1000 kill count frames things appropriately. This feels like some sort of master fortress for the enemy, and appropriately the name of the game is siege warfare: clear out some territory for yourself and dismantle the works from within. Routing is essential, but there's freedom in selecting your approach and the odd stray enemy can always muck up the works.

Apparently this is the most influential fan-made WAD, I can see why as it came at a critical time historically and sets a great standard for merging aesthetics and combat, while offering plenty of room for improvement (overall pacing, more constructed/intricate fights, stronger theming for maps and sets of maps).

I think the Revenant is my new favorite Doom enemy. The missiles are super fun to dodge and oppressive enough to give other enemies openings, their health is low enough that fighting hordes is snappy, and baiting the punch in melee is an advanced, high risk-reward trick you'd see in the action game greats. On the negative side Barons have too much health, fighting hordes is a slog and SSGing them too much can get grindy (let alone using regular shotgun). Thank fuck Doom 2 invented Hell Knights.

Here's my saveless Dark Dome clear, more for posterity though as it's pretty long.

Decieded to play through Doom properly (UV, pistol start), because Elden Rot was draining my energy, and I'm really enjoying it. With pistol start, I really like how you have to find a proper weapon to use at the start and it's not always easy. In E1M4, I had to rush to get a chaingun, because the ammo drop from shotguners wasn't enough to kill enemies. This also made me think more of hitscaners as a resource, escpecially in the levels the weren't abundant with ammo. It really puts into perspective how well zombiemen and shotgunner are design, despite being early enemies, they stay interesting even into later lvls. Not only they're source of ammo, but as a hitscanners they differentiate themselves from other enemies and are good at starting in-fighting as well.

With pistol start, fiding secrets also felt like gaining tactical advantage instead of just forced exploration. Though I suck balls at finding secrect, so that adds bit to a dificulty hah. Barrels as well, instead of feeling like a novelty, are perfect opportunity to take out multiple enemies and save ammo. Romero really knew his when puting them around a corners with enemies in E1M5.

The pinkies (and spectres) feel like the fodder of fodder enemies, since their job is to just block space and waste ammo. Really like how you can get sandwiched if you're not careful, goes to show importance of creating tight levels that constraint player's movement. In E1M6, I was dumb enough to get myself surrounded in the ambush room and I had to desperately claw my way out of it - great feeling.

1st episode was really solid, but I'm looking forward to playing Sandy Petersen's lvls, especially how divisive they're.

Episode 2 is pretty cool though there is very noticable shift towards more adventure, exploration-based lvl design. It was intriguing seeing that I don't have to collect all keycards to exit a lvl in E2M1, but it later became recurring pattern, where levels have optional encounters of sort. This really made levels feel more like D&D dungeons, especially with its gimmicks and traps, which makes sense, since Sandy Petersen is RPG designer.

On the otherhand, I felt ammo was more scarce, which I really like. In some maps, like E2M3, you got a search a bit for weapons when starting with a pistol, which rewards map knowledge and encourages resourcefulness. Ngl, I enjoy how miserable experience with using pistol or non-berserk melee can be if you're not careful with your ammo.

E2M8 felt really flat. Fighiting 1 Cyberdemon with some lost souls isn't impressive or hard. That applies to all boss lvls.

Episode 3 is mostly the same, but with even more emphasis on theming and they're way too maze-like and the whole dmging tiles got really overused. Enemy composition took step back as well. It's also interesting in hindsight how little the 1st episode uses of Doom's enemy roster, but menages to mix them and blend them with level desing very well.

Let me know what you think of E4, personally I really enjoyed that one as well. E1 and 4 are my favourites, though I admit I have to give 2 and 3 another shot at some point.