most skill-demanding megawad?

hello guyz, i've played some well known wads including tnt/pl/pl2, hr/hr2, av, scythe/scythe2, sod and so on, and i would admit some are very hard. however, i wonder whats the overall most skill-demanding megawad(not single level wads) you have seen.

when talking about the word "hardest" you know its not just legions of monsters getting in your way, or just being difficult in a certain aspect, but some task only possible for expert marines, something demanding in all aspects.

strategy and experience: you know how to handle all kinds of situation, like teleported into surrounding of 20 arch viles.

playing skills: aiming, running, performing tricks, getting monsters infight to save on ammo, etc.

limited supply: overwhelming monsters with firepower is not feasible, just like e4m1 of ultimate doom.

malicious map design: that make things difficult on purpose, like lacking of covers, or having little room for dodging.

map familiarity: even for experts, finishing a level is still not possible until you know it well.

and probably other things that i can't name atm...

however, the difficulty shouldn't go too impossible either. that is, there is still a way to do it, but only for expert marines that have everything it takes, by going all out and only by doing it the right way, not just a casual job.

Most Skill-demanding Megawad i ever played was probably Back to Saturn X Episode 2(BTSX EP2)

Anything by Time of Death. :I

Speaking of timeofdeath, he compiled all his maps into a megawad titled Eternal Slumber Party. Search file name "esp" on the idgames archive. That'll keep you busy.

It is, however, a compilation. So its not necessarily meant to be played in numerical order as most megawads do.

Dark Tartarus is a good choice that requires a lot of practice and map knowledge. Requires zdoomish port to be played properly. First maps look kinda ugly, but they get more and more elaborate the deeper you get into the wad. Very good music is an icing on the cake too. The wad doesn't lose its appeal even with item respawn or with more than one player, but pistol starts are preferrable.

Ribbiks's stuff has kicked my ass harder than anything else these days.

FranckFRAG's Swift Death.

40oz said:

Speaking of timeofdeath, he compiled all his maps into a megawad titled Eternal Slumber Party. Search file name "esp" on the idgames archive. That'll keep you busy.

It is, however, a compilation. So its not necessarily meant to be played in numerical order as most megawads do.

Oh I have played it- on coop on Zandro...yeah spending a good 2 hours on a map...is a thing!

Resurgence comes to mind.

BTSX 1 and 2 have many many traps if you're into that thing.

Chillax.

Swift Death

Combat shock 2.

Alfonzo said:

FranckFRAG's Swift Death.

damn right!

edit: check out going down too!

Sunder has 14 maps. Don't know if it counts as a megawad. By the way, I can't find it on Doomworld search.

^Search for "sunder" in thread titles only, and you'll find a thread "Sunder - Updated with new maps! Huzzah!". If you've actually meant /idgames, it's not there.

A wad is considered a megawad if it has 15 or more maps. Source.

Thanks. Yeah I meant /idgames. Why is it not there? Was it never completed?

Yeah it's abandoned. I_G actually planned to add further maps, likely the reason why he didn't upload it to idgames.

Probably some frustrated fan hunted him down after playing Map05 for too long.

that's a precarious speculation :)

The "final exam" in Expired License matches the OP exactly.

TimeOfDeath said:

The "final exam" in Expired License matches the OP exactly.

lol they are all talking about you when it comes to ultra-hard wads. XD
unfortunately i am not a big fan of zdoom, i would go to find something that works with prboom+ instead.

Eviltech, not even a contest.

noshutdown said:

i would go to find something that works with prboom+ instead.

Me too, but zdoom offers jumping/rocket jumping stuff you can't do in classic ports, so it's worth it to learn and add to your skills imo.

TimeOfDeath said:

Me too, but zdoom offers jumping/rocket jumping stuff you can't do in classic ports, so it's worth it to learn and add to your skills imo.

lol but i am among those who don't want to change the rules of doom, and i would be playing quake whenever i want to fiddle with jumping.