KiiiYiiiKiiiA
Member
Posts: 660
Registered: 04-11 |
So I played the first couple of levels of DTWID recently, and while I freely admit that it is a brilliant piece of collaborative work, I simply was finding it too easy. And having no real threats to my survival removed all the tension and ambiance that everyone worked so long and hard to put in all those levels.
So in order to fix this, I went back and started DTWID again. But this time, with some limitations in place. I decided to play Doom like it is 1994. Like how I used to play it 'back in the day'.
-No mouse.
-No strafe.
-No 'always run' turned on.
So I am playing the game now with a total of seven keys: forward, backward, turn left, turn right, shoot, use and sprint.
Suddenly, everything that DTWID was designed to be came alive. Imps were tough because you can't just strafe out of the way of their fireballs. You have to backpedal, turning away at the same time. Much harder. Imps become an actual threat, especially in close quarters. At point blank, you will never dodge an imp fireball at the speed you now move. And when you do hit the sprint key, it becomes so much harder to move and shoot with any real precision. So even whether to sprint or not to sprint becomes an actual decision.
If you are caught out in the open when a monster closets spring open all around you, uh oh. You are in real trouble. Better find some cover and fast. You are simply no longer godlike when compared to the vanilla doom bestiary. This was something of a revelation to me: having completed mapsets like Sunder and Death Destiny's maps, what challenge could vanilla provide?
Plenty, as it turns out.
I found that every item that I picked up became much more important too. You lose a lot more health, so health packs, rather than being just a top up, become life or death. It is much harder to aim weapons so whenever you get in trouble, you use a lot more ammo as you spray everywhere. The pauses between shotgun reloads becomes a lot more pronounced, especially now that you can no longer guarantee that every imp will go down in one shotty blast and every demon/spectre in two. The chaingun becomes a lot more devastating compared to the shotty, and its ammo much more precious. The rocket launcher becomes much more powerful again, but far more risky too. Because you move slower, it is so much harder to backpedal quickly enough to keep those demons at sufficient range to kill them without taking blast damage from your own rockets.
Entering into each new room takes a little more thought too. If you get blindsided by a monster, it takes forever to turn 180 degrees, so you gotta take all this into consideration all the time.
Suddenly, 4 imps in close quarters is actually a serious problem. Suddenly demons and spectres charging at you are no longer just an annoyance. Suddenly, single sergeants become genuine opponents, because they hurt, and there is a fair chance that you won't kill them with your first shotty blast, coz you no longer have the accuracy that a mouse gives you. And if you don't kill them clean, there is a good chance they will take a second shot. More pain for you.
You approach dark areas very differently. Hell, you approach everything differently.
But through all this, little things become awesome. Surviving traps is awesome. Finding a medikit is awesome. Negotiating a dark area successfully is awesome. Finding desperately needed ammo for the chaingun is awesome. Shooting a sergeant while he is still in his idle state is awesome.
DTWID, thank you. Vanilla Doom is fun again !!!
Anyway, enough rambling. If only I could get chocolate doom to work, my vanilla dooming experience would be approaching perfection.
And I haven't even got to cacodemons and barons yet.
Last edited by KiiiYiiiKiiiA on 02-06-12 at 12:16
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02-06-12 12:10 
