Doom II Megawads that mimic the Ultimate Doom experience

This is something I've been trying to find for a while, so I'm not sure it even really exists.

Basically, after recently playing Ultimate Doom a few times through, paying close attention to the level design/progression/balance that many claimed to be far superior than that in Doom II (a claim I always vehemently denied because Doom II was the first PC game I ever played as a kid), I am looking for a megawad for Doom II that mimics those variables (level design/progression/balance) that isn't based solely on slaughtermaps. The closest thing I could find was Doom II: The Way ID Did, but wasn't sure if there were more and/or even better suited megawads.

I've searched the Cacowards, this forum, and other resources to no avail... So any help would be greatly appreciated - Even if it's to tell me that such a megawad does not really exist!

Thanks!!!

I remember one wad for Ultimate Doom,where all respective episodes were connected in one large map. For example, Knee-Deep in Dead maps were connected in one large map with some additional maps. Damn, I wish I could leave you link.

Phobos: relive the nightmare may not be exactly what you're looking for (not a megawad, etc.) but it's so good for its age you definitely need to check it out!! It's Episode 1 design (rather superior than Episode 1 IMO, lighting is fantastic), Doom II monsters, levels are short, lots of fun.

4 minutes ago, vdgg said:

Phobos: relive the nightmare may not be exactly what you're looking for (not a megawad, etc.) but it's so good for its age you definitely need to check it out!! It's Episode 1 design (rather superior than Episode 1 IMO, lighting is fantastic), Doom II monsters, levels are short, lots of fun.

loading it up now! Thanks for the link!!

12 minutes ago, Jer Del said:

Basically, after recently playing Ultimate Doom a few times through, paying close attention to the level design/progression/balance that many claimed to be far superior than that in Doom II

Could you be a little more specific about what you're looking for? If you were just looking for mapsets with good level design, we could link you to dozens if not hundreds of them, but I feel like you're trying to find something very particular. IMO, Doom 2 is mostly better than Doom 1. But if you want fine balance with relatively simple level design and somewhat lower monster counts, maybe start with BTSX?

Have you tried Knee Deep in Phobos?

10 minutes ago, Jer Del said:

I am looking for a megawad for Doom II that mimics those variables (level design/progression/balance) that isn't based solely on slaughtermaps

Yeah, important to filter out the mass of slaughtermaps that have the progression and balance of Doom.wad.

21 minutes ago, Not Jabba said:

Could you be a little more specific about what you're looking for? If you were just looking for mapsets with good level design, we could link you to dozens if not hundreds of them, but I feel like you're trying to find something very particular. IMO, Doom 2 is mostly better than Doom 1. But if you want fine balance with relatively simple level design and somewhat lower monster counts, maybe start with BTSX?

Monster counts aren't particularly a concern so long as they don't mimic the amount/feel of a slaughter map ha... It's more or less about the simple level design coupled with the difficulty progression and weapon balance. I feel Doom II was ammo/weapon heavy in comparison to Ultimate Doom, so it was more challenging on a level beyond "kill before you're killed" level... Not every shot had to count, but most had to - Especially with TFC. I will check BTSX out and see what it's all about. Thanks for the suggestion! 

18 minutes ago, Empyre said:

Have you tried Knee Deep in Phobos?

Haven't... But I will! 

17 minutes ago, rdwpa said:

Yeah, important to filter out the mass of slaughtermaps that have the progression and balance of Doom.wad.

Just trying to avoid the slaughtermap suggestions altogether as I've asked other resources in the past this same question and I ended up with Hell Revealed II... Which I surprisingly actually enjoyed playing until I got bored of it in the middle.

For something similar to the feel of Ultimate Doom, how about Moonblood for a recent megawad?

I made a wad called From Home to Hell. It's only 7 levels (I wouldn't call it a Megawad), but I think it's similar to what you are looking for, Jer Del.

There are no Pain Elementals, no Arch-Viles... and no SSG.

https://www.doomworld.com/files/file/18551-from-home-to-hell/

41 minutes ago, Jer Del said:

It's more or less about the simple level design coupled with the difficulty progression and weapon balance. I feel Doom II was ammo/weapon heavy in comparison to Ultimate Doom, so it was more challenging on a level beyond "kill before you're killed" level... Not every shot had to count, but most had to - Especially with TFC. I will check BTSX out and see what it's all about. Thanks for the suggestion! 

The new monsters and weapon significantly change the balance and gameplay focus of the game, so you'll be hard pressed to find a Doom 2 mapset that mimics the feel of Romero's E1, which is the part of Ultimate Doom that most people like best.

I would almost guarantee you'll like Suspended in Dusk, and probably also the early levels of Scythe, Scythe 2, Scythe X, and Vanguard (later on, all of these sets get much more brutal and monster-dense, except for Scythe X because it was never completed). Can't think of much else right now. It may be more worthwhile to play a lot of different stuff and see what different mapping/gameplay styles have to offer, rather than looking for one specific type of map. If you do want to play maps that are like Romero's, try finding high-quality mapsets for Doom 1, rather than Doom 2 -- Double Impact and Mapgame come to mind.

I mimicked a lot of U Doom design stuff when I made sinseven.wad, definitely nothing slaughtery there. I kinda want to recommend marswar.wad as well, some parts definitely remind me of e2 / e3. The wad is quirky, but enjoyable.

I'm basically trying to think of maps that are well designed but also easy going in the difficulty department - most wads are notably harder than vanilla U Doom, so this is harder than I thought it would be!

edit: Scythe.wad is great, although the final episode is insanely hard compared to the rest. I loved it, but that ending might bother you.

Fava Beans is another wad for U Doom that feels right in line with the vanilla game.

The first Episode is really fantastic and unique. It it almost impossible to make Doom 2 feels similar to UD because (as other comments said) of the new monsters, that change the game balance completly. 

You could take a look at Ultimate Doom 2

4 hours ago, MysteriousHaruko said:

I remember one wad for Ultimate Doom,where all respective episodes were connected in one large map. For example, Knee-Deep in Dead maps were connected in one large map with some additional maps. Damn, I wish I could leave you link.

Two of that general type (though not copies of original maps):

Fear Complex

Map20 (Hip Deep) of Cleimos 2

Erkattäññe

4 hours ago, Carlos_Lastra said:

I made a wad called From Home to Hell. It's only 7 levels (I wouldn't call it a Megawad), but I think it's similar to what you are looking for, Jer Del.

 

There are no Pain Elementals, no Arch-Viles... and no SSG.

 

https://www.doomworld.com/files/file/18551-from-home-to-hell/

 

Downloaded and slotted to play... I'll leave a review! Thank You!!

3 hours ago, Doomkid said:

I mimicked a lot of U Doom design stuff when I made sinseven.wad, definitely nothing slaughtery there. I kinda want to recommend marswar.wad as well, some parts definitely remind me of e2 / e3. The wad is quirky, but enjoyable.

 

I'm basically trying to think of maps that are well designed but also easy going in the difficulty department - most wads are notably harder than vanilla U Doom, so this is harder than I thought it would be!

 

edit: Scythe.wad is great, although the final episode is insanely hard compared to the rest. I loved it, but that ending might bother you.

 

Fava Beans is another wad for U Doom that feels right in line with the vanilla game.

Thank you for all of the suggestions! Hard doesn't bother me... Harder than U Doom wouldn't scare me off per say... Just a gradual increase in difficulty is more welcomed than the "Here's the first map with cacodemons and chaingunners surrounding you from the start and the second map has 3 cyberdemons, 50 revenants, and 10 archviles in one room" difficulty!

34 minutes ago, Benjogami said:

Erkattäññe

I downloaded that a couple days ago because of crawling through the cacowards trying to find something along the lines of what I'm looking for here! Thanks!

4 hours ago, Not Jabba said:

 

I would almost guarantee you'll like Suspended in Dusk

I was just playing this for an hour... I -LOVE- it!!! I wouldn't even say it was along the lines of what I was looking for per say - It's better! Great suggestion and THANK YOU!

The Killian Experience*