General gameplay tips? (included a gzdoom SiD demo)

I've only been digging into user wads on and off since last summer, lots of fun maps. Harder than the base game though, so looking for any general strategy tips for a relative novice in the user maps scene?

Also I just got the random idea to record my first demo, but you need GZDoom to watch it, not the best way to do it I know.

(About 10 minutes, made on gzdoom-g2.1.pre-1231. (Just watched it in the newer gzdoom-g2.2pre-605, goes out of sync after about 6 minutes in that version. But you could still just watch until it goes out of sync to give me some pointers. Or watch on 2.1-pre-1231 if you still have it.)

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/attachment.php?postid=1576805

Watching somebody die a bunch of times in Suspended in Dusk map 04 in GZDoom is a pretty niche idea, but hey maybe somebody's interested. I also use the resurrect cheat one time just to show a different part of the map. I have beaten the map though, this was my second attempt. (on HMP)

Either way, any general tips for newbies trying to step their game up is welcome. Just how to get hit less, general strats to use against the enemies, etc. Thanks!

Man I'd love to help you but for some reason I can never get demos to run, can you make a video and post it online?

MrGlide said:

Man I'd love to help you but for some reason I can never get demos to run, can you make a video and post it online?

I've never captured any videos before, so I don't have capture software etc. But to run that if you have SiD and a recent GZDoom, you can highlight SiD.wad and the lmp demo file, and drag both of those onto the GZDoom exe. Or use a command line of -playdemo mydemoo.lmp in a launcher like ZDL etc.

But even without seeing the video, if you're familiar with that level, you could imagine what a novice dying a lot in it may be like. Or maybe you just have some tips anyway that could be useful in general, s'all good.

Stuff like how to avoid getting hit when fighting in narrow rooms and halls, etc. Or Archvile strats if you're not near cover, general things to work on.

I got it to work, ok you've alot of room to improve.

1. back up from shot gunners, in the begining you didn't stay back or use cover thus allowing them to get more damage on you.

2. you dont use cover almost at all, best way to do this imo is diagonally moving along a wall leading to a door (or opening), you can press forward to pop out just enough to shoot them and not let them shoot you, then when they're fireing you press one of your strafe button(towards the wall you behind) and youll quickly snap back into cover.

3. I would have tried to avoid the archvile fights till you got rockets, but in the situation as is there was a short box in that cluster of boxes, you could have shot him to death from there while taking minile damage.

4. Put down the double barrle for trash (zombies and imps) unless you absolutly will get more then one in a shot. use the regular shotty more, trust me.

5. strafe run, just sprint in an diagonal and you'll move much faster, and dodge faster.

6. Save that chain gun for when you need it, and tap your shots so you shoot 2 bullets at a time, you'll waist way less ammo and kill targets faster, chain gun is ok to use on trash, revinents, mancubuses, otherstuff you need to stun lock ect, or if you need to snipe an enemy far away, don't plug all your ammo into a hell knight. also you can use the chaingun in panic situations where your cornered and push out of the croud.

7. explicitly save rockets and cells for archviles or boss type enemies. rockets and super shot gun do close to the same damage per shot, but rocket launcher out dps's the ssg quite quickly, so save those rockets bub, hell knight will die in 3 ssg blasts, demons and up try to use ssg.

8, small hallways hug left or right wall in anticipation of incoming fireballs, then when they're comming at you switch sides, youll easily dodge them.

it desynced after 6 min like you said, I'll try to make a demo to show you the tricks I'm talking about, any more questions feel free to ask

I'll say this: bum rushing in user maps is often a bad idea because the authors can get very clever about making you regret not thinking ahead.

GoatLord said:

I'll say this: bum rushing in user maps is often a bad idea because the authors can get very clever about making you regret not thinking ahead.

MrGlide said:

I got it to work, ok you've alot of room to improve.
---
it desynced after 6 min like you said, I'll try to make a demo to show you the tricks I'm talking about, any more questions feel free to ask

Thanks, lots of good advice! I do try to save rockets usually, near the end of the video there was a bit where all I had was rocket ammo. And I'm so used to run and gun that I forget cover is still key in Doom. Patience is key I suppose, and thinking tactically.

One question would be, when you walk into a new area where there are lots of enemies far away like chaingunners etc who can shoot at you, what's the best approach? It seems one of them sees me first usually, especially if there are ledges on multiple sides etc. Maybe retreat back where I came from and snipe a bit?

ya pop into cover and snipe(you can snipe at mid range with shotty or chain for far), or if there are many of them and you've spare rockets it might be best to shoot a rocket at him, pop back into cover then the rocket will get him/them. also in new areas try to cling the edges of the map, it can stop enemies over head from getting you and usually youll have cover close by.

I really can't say much for the demo here, but since you said any tips are welcome to help new players in doom to step up, I'll drop these;

-Be paranoid.
No seriously, be paranoid, stay on guard. You can never be too careful with maps cause traps, monster closets, teleports in are very, very common thing to add difficulty and punishment.

-Do not forget where you came in/backtrack.
Very often, players tend to go forward at steam phase to encounters again and again, and make things more difficult for themselves than needed. Do not forget you can run back to the room you came from if you get ambushed in crowded room/hallway.

-Use ledges.
Higher ground will save your ass a lot, if you can get up so monsters can't get you, and spam your hitscan on em, do it. It will save a lot of trouble.

-Decorations/props are your friends.
Against projectile users that is, and if you see stalagmite, large tree, etc when in otherwise open space against higher tier monsters, use em to your advantage. People tend to miss that in some maps that dont make it obvious. Just dont use projectiles yourself.

-Even tho you need to be careful and paranoid a lot, it doesn't mean you should take it slow.
Utilize your speed and learn to spot common "fishy things", be fast and careful.

-Watch the pro doom strats vid if you havent already for fun and useful info on monster behavior.

Watching FDAs from good players can give a great insight into how to tackle certain room and monster types. Same as any FPS really, you can learn a huge deal from watching a good player's perspective.