Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Guest Mariner

Doom 1 or 2?

Which one is your favorite?  

426 members have voted

  1. 1. Which one is your favorite?

    • DOOM/The Ultimate DOOM
      202
    • DOOM II: Hell on Earth
      224


Recommended Posts

RUSH said:

Doom 1 blows Doom 2 out of the water. In fact, it blows every official Doom release out of the water. The aesthetics of the original can never be beat. It has the perfect feeling everywhere it needs to, from mars to hell to everything in between. Doom 2 is ugly and amateurish looking by comparison.


This sums my feelings up on the issue at hand.

Share this post


Link to post

What mostly killed Doom2 for me visually was that the city levels didn't even TRY to look like an actual city, and most of 'hell' didn't have any hellish look.

And please do not say 'abstraction' again. In this case it went over the line.

The city 'episode' always reminds me of the original Star Trek episode 'Spectre of a Gun' in a very bad way - some nightmarish city-like silhouette - which would have been ok if it HAD actually been a nightmare or some twisted place in some weird alternate dimension (which is why this actually worked in the abovementioned episode.) But trying to sell this as EARTH just never worked out for me even remotely. It's completely lacking any sense of location.

Share this post


Link to post

I know what you mean, I actually considered O' of Destruction more pleasing in its design and it doesn't even look like it's trying to be anything based on reality. Mostly, the "hell" levels just looked like they could be Earth but underground, like the Abandoned Mines. Even Icon of Sin's lair doesn't strike me as particularly demonic, they would have been better using blood or lava or something instead of nuclear waste.

Share this post


Link to post

People who think that D1 was neater, less rushed, et cetera, should replay Sandy levels.

Or not. I made that mistake recently, and was very depressed. I'd rather remember them as "atmospheric masterpieces, if a little flat", but it's too late for me.

VGA said:

They did not really improve the engine for Doom 2 or raise the limits.

They did raise the limits.

Share this post


Link to post

^ In addition to raising DRAWSEGS limit from 128 to 256, they also added several more linedef/sector actions (such as a switch-activated crusher, a 512-unit-raising floor, sector type 17, etc), not to mention that they implemented (hardcoded) the new monsters, SSG and Megasphere, quit messages, quit sounds, map order, intermission texts mapslots, post-MAP30 monster cast screen...

Share this post


Link to post
scifista42 said:

^ In addition to raising DRAWSEGS limit from 128 to 256, they also added several more linedef/sector actions (such as a switch-activated crusher, a 512-unit-raising floor, sector type 17, etc), not to mention that they implemented (hardcoded) the new monsters, SSG and Megasphere, quit messages, quit sounds, map order, intermission texts mapslots, post-MAP30 monster cast screen...

Ah, ok, but other than that specific limit being raised, the other stuff doesn't contribute to more beautiful maps I think. There were still strict limits and they had to avoid crashing, right? Some places in many doom 2 maps look so simple.

Share this post


Link to post

The Doom 2 maps weren't hitting engine limits, they were hitting 1994 computer limits. MAP16, for example, had some big walls added to it because of framerate issues.

Also, in addition to increasing the drawsegs limit, Doom 2's engine also allowed for taller maps. Doom 1's EXE would have had problems rendering some of Doom 2's maps just for the sheer vertical scale of them.

Share this post


Link to post

Doom 2's best looking levels (what few would qualify as looking good) look better than Doom 1's best-looking levels (save for a select few in E1 and E4.) Doom 2's worst looking levels are the worst by far.

I'd go so far as to suggest that American McGee's Doom 2 maps are the best looking in that set. He had a sense of style distinct from the other mappers.

Share this post


Link to post

Hmm, well, purely in terms of the texture pack, I feel like the original Doom's assets have a bit more charisma, yes, though of course that game benefits from the conceptual novelty of juxtaposing sci-fi with hell/gothic in a way that the second game by definition could not.

There's a lot more to the overall visual appeal of a level than the textures it's painted in, though, and generally speaking I reckon that the structure of the maps in Doom II makes for more striking/interesting scenery--the greater emphasis on open space and the MUCH greater emphasis on height variation/vertical scale in the Doom II maps make for far more of a sense of 'vista' than you ever got in the original Doom (E3M6 perhaps excepted), to say nothing of the extra dimensions that that sort of layout adds to actual gameplay. I reckon I'd say Doom II makes more consistent use of lighting contrasts to affect the mood of given locales, as well, although the original game of course has many instances of good use of that feature in its own right.

Share this post


Link to post

Yes, I know this thread's been done to death, but let's just call this my own personal version of it...

So DOOM I or DOOM II ... Which one is your absolute personal favorite over the other?

Final DOOM, Master Levels, DOOM 64, and all fan-made mods to DOOM do NOT count.

Also, if you vote DOOM I, I'd like you to specify whether you prefer Shareware, Registered, or Ultimate. I was gonna make another thread about this, but I figured merging it in with this thread would save us all some trouble...

Forget that strikeout part. That put the thread on a bad start. Just tell me whether you prefer DOOM I or DOOM II.

I say DOOM II. It's my Favorite Game of All Time. That's all I need to say.

Share this post


Link to post
RexFesto696 said:

Yes, I know this thread's been done to death, but let's just call this my own personal version of it...

Do we really have to?

Share this post


Link to post
rdwpa said:

because it's based on Brutal Doom

oh no please don't go there

Share this post


Link to post
RexFesto696 said:

Yes, I know this thread's been done to death, but let's just call this my own personal version of it...

If so, you could have started the thread by contributing something new, like stating your own opinion on the topic, rather than just asking exactly what's been "done to death".

RexFesto696 said:

Also, if you vote DOOM I, I'd like you to specify whether you prefer Shareware, Registered, or Ultimate.

Each of these encompasses the previous one, so why would anyone prefer Shareware or Registered Doom when Ultimate Doom has all of its content plus more?

Share this post


Link to post

Doom 1 is crap because it's flat, boring, and overrated.

Doom 2 is butt because it's brown, ugly, and not particularly pretty. Also a glorified add-on!!

I don't know which one to choose.

Share this post


Link to post
scifista42 said:

Each of these encompasses the previous one, so why would anyone prefer Shareware or Registered Doom when Ultimate Doom has all of its content plus more?


That's what I never figured out, how people can prefer one of those to Ultimate. Even if you don't like Thy Flesh Consumed, it being on the menu literally does nothing to impact the previous episodes. You're simply getting more content for nothing. Unless you have a computer that was made in the 90's, the extra space isn't going to matter for jack.

Share this post


Link to post
RexFesto696 said:

Also, if you vote DOOM I, I'd like you to specify whether you prefer Shareware, Registered, or Ultimate.


Who wants the shareware? That's pretty much retarded, and besides the one questionable thread just take Ultimate Doom over Registered it's just more stuff. If anyone says Shareware or Registered I'm sorry, you're wrong. It doesn't even matter if you don't want to play anything except E1 why wouldn't you just take the rest of the game?

EDIT: This sounds angry and it kind of is but I'm not trying to offend people

Share this post


Link to post
RexFesto696 said:

Also, if you vote DOOM I, I'd like you to specify whether you prefer Shareware, Registered, or Ultimate.

I prefer the originally released Shareware file over the more recent ones (post-1.4), because of that E1M4 svastika.
I like to kill nazi demons.

Share this post


Link to post

I can sorta understand how this works.

Take La Gioconda, expand the canvas, add a badly drawn dick to it. Technically, nothing of value is lost, yet you're very likely to see a couple of people not entirely happy with the addition. Even if you cover it with something, it will still affect the integrity of the art piece in the eyes of those who know it's there.

Disclaimer: I don't think Thy Flesh Consumed amounts to a badly drawn dick. E2 and E3 are better candidates for this.

Share this post


Link to post
scifista42 said:

Each of these encompasses the previous one, so why would anyone prefer Shareware or Registered Doom when Ultimate Doom has all of its content plus more?


Probably the same reason some people prefer Unreal Tournament 2003 over Unreal Tournament 2004. The thing is, I yet have to find out what that reason is...

Share this post


Link to post

It ultimately comes down to replayability, and if there is something that accounts for that in one game which is not present in the other, that doesn't matter, because the original product is ultimately responsible for that replayability.

So with Doom 1, you've got fewer enemies, slightly less variety in textures and fewer linedef actions. So it's no surprise that fewer mods have been released for it. Other than better music, perhaps the only thing it's got over Doom 2 is that some of its layouts are more interesting.

Doom 2 has all these extra assets to play with, and a much larger modding scene. The shortcomings (the sometimes lackluster maps/music) is negated by the sheer amount of creativity that has grown from two decades of modding. So it's kind of a no brainer there.

Were I to judge the games as isolated experiences with no regards to modding, I would probably still choose Doom 2 for the simple fact that it has more stuff. Yes, The Chasm is kind of annoying, Barrels o' Fun is gimmicky, Icon of Sin is a bit too simple and the secret maps are mediocre, but much of the game is designed very well and the addition of the super shotty is one of the most important elements of the series, despite the frequent complaints that it's overpowered.

Share this post


Link to post
Zed said:

Probably the same reason some people prefer Unreal Tournament 2003 over Unreal Tournament 2004. The thing is, I yet have to find out what that reason is...

It was the version I owned and was thus the one I learnt.

Share this post


Link to post
RexFesto696 said:

DOOM II may be the technically superior game (except for level design)

Can't be. It is the exact same engine. The difference IS the level design, and more monster resources. Especially Doom II level have more detail most of the time.

GoatLord said:

So with Doom 1, you've got fewer enemies, slightly less variety in textures and fewer linedef actions. So it's no surprise that fewer mods have been released for it.

True for textures and enemies. Not true for linedef actions, since they are exactly the same in either game. Even the fast door sounds were there in Doom 1 ready to be used since v1.666.

Share this post


Link to post

Playing Doom all the way through gave a sense of progression, while Doom 2 lost a bit of that charm IMO.

Can't argue with new and interesting monsters and the SSG though, even if the level layout can be a bit dull compared to the stuff in Doom 1.

Share this post


Link to post

Well, TBH Doom had more distribution, engine and map changes during its lifetime than Doom II, so that might make it slightly more collectible if we're discussing only files, floppies and boxes.

Other than that, it's all about the shift in gameplay paradigms (larger levels, more enemies etc., which was really perfected only in Final Doom).

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×