Best Map in All of Ultimate Doom, Doom II, TNT Evilution, The Plutonia Experiment

By taking into account all of the following: Replayability, Memorability, Multiplayer Compatibility, and Presentation, the actual right answer to the question "best map out of all the IWADs" is Entryway. It is well-known for its start, its secrets, and will be the first map anyone sees when they boot up Doom 2. Not to leave out it's deathmatch and coop capabilities as well.

E1M1.

E1M10 forever.

Favorites out each one:

Ultimate Doom: E4M2 - I like the map's sense of character. Without the mercy of E4M1's quiet beginning, you're dropped into a situation where you have to act with urgency, and there's nowhere to hide. When played with infinitely-tall actors, those cacodemons can be pretty lethal.

Doom II: MAP29 - This level really symbolizes what id was obviously hoping to pull off with the sequel, a straightforwardly bigger and badder version of the original game.

TNT: MAP18 - An odd choice, I just really like the set piece at the end where you can retreat back into that building and spectate the cyberdemon demolish the hell knight horde.

Plutonia: MAP03 - Much as I liked Go 2 It, this level arguably had the most devilish traps in the game. The way that revenant ambush was designed just to direct the player into a chaingunner deathtrap was genius. Overall it was the level that had broke me in my first attempts to finish Plutonia, but during my first UV playthrough of it, this was the moment where it just "clicked" for me.

E2M9...

If I had to cut through all the levels in the the games to pick out two that, while maybe not being the absolute best, come closest to representing what I like about the gameplay, they'd be E2M2 (Ultimate Doom) and Map01 "Congo" (Plutonia).

But there are also a few Doom 64 levels I'd include as well. The one with the outdoor area full of raising and lowering cliff faces is amazing, though the name and number escape me right now.

"Congo" is my favorite opening map in any of the games.

Map03 in Plutonia is a strong contender as well, for reasons pointed out above (any of the first ten levels are, really!), but it's not quite as memorable to me as Map01.

I'd say E3M6.  I always liked doom levels that had a bit of spectacle, and I always liked hellish levels.  That, and Map28 of Doom 2 sorta give this cool feeling, and I'd say those two maps are the closest Doom ever gets to hell, at least for me.

I also have this weird love for E2M9, just because I have a love for dumb maps. 

My favorite map, in all of its "Doomyness" has to be TNT: Evilution MAP20: Central Processing!

I love everything about it from the starting T-shaped hallway to the little office with cubicles to the dark dungeon to the caves to the ravine at the end! Not to mention the music for that map is just perfect! The sky texture is by far one of my favourite things from TNT: Evilution.

I just in general love TNT: Evilution for its music and level design and the amazing new textures it adds.

Now in terms of nostalgia the map I would pick would have to be MAP02: Well of Souls from The Plutonia Experiment. That is the first map I can remember watching my dad play when I was around 3 years old. That is probably a map I played a lot when I was a little six-year-old noob who couldn't really play Doom very well in the slightest... And was barely capable of booting up Doom '95 honestly.

We have Final Doom in the big box, so those are the IWADs I had the most exposure to growing up. My dad had the other games on floppy disk, but he could never get them working until he gave up on Doom '95 and installed DOSBOX. I have all of them now, though it pains me to admit that I've only played through The Ultimate Doom once, and even more painful to admit that that was a very, very recent play through...

Well the really worst map is of course Map22: Habitat of TNT Evilution because you must explore EVERYWHERE to get all the secrets and the secrets are only shortcuts into other hallways, and the final secret is right inside the exit, which never occurred in previous maps! Also there CAN be a visplane overflow somewhere in the courtyard beyond the exit, since it is NOT flat,  and just everything the map has makes it ugly, and Christopher Buteau's only map designed was that map, what the hell is wrong with Buteau!

I really like Map32 of TNT, Carribean.

Although the music is just Into Sandy's City from Doom 2.

Ultimate Doom : E4M9 , E3M6 , E2M6 , E4M6 , E1M7

Doom 2 : Map15 , Map28 , Map27 , Map19

TNT : Map31,Map20,Map13,Map18,Map29,Map28,Map09,Map15,Map14 

Plutonia : Map32,Map11,Map21,Map23,Map15

I like Gotcha best! it's artistic yet spare, non-linear, illogical and not afraid to dump you into damaging slime

other faves are The Pit, Circle of Death, The Factory, The Chasm, Living End and Monster Condo

you could say that these are the maps that unfold in the most interesting and treacherous ways

I don't really think there's a good, meaty guns & corridors map in doom2.wad, it's all about the gimmicks

Favorite of all the IWAD's? Hard to say.

I don't remember much from TNT, which is a blessing in disguise, really.

Plutonia had a lot of solid maps, but none that really stood out beyond Go 2 It, which, while really good, isn't exactly my favorite.

Ultimate Doom was excellent.

But I'll have to hand the award for favorite IWAD map to Doom II's MAP29 The Living End. It's an excellent penultimate map and would've been great for a final boss that wasn't a wall.

Least favorite? I'd have to say Doom II's MAP09 The Pit, it just bores me so much and I don't know why.

For me it's Industrial Zone or Pharaoh. I'm tempted to throw in some runner-ups but I'll probably make another long list...

On 8/9/2017 at 8:16 PM, Xyzzy01 said:

This one.

 

 

That looks like something from D!Zone

Containment Area is best.

Out of all IWADs, I think that's going to be Odyssey of Noises from Plutonia for me.

Doom 1 - All of E1 and then bits and pieces from the other episodes. E2M3, E2M6, E3M2, E3M5, E3M6, E3M7. 

I find Containment Area to be a bit overrated. It's a fun level but it's aggravating to complete 100% all secrets and kills due to all the lost souls and it's so easy to overlook an imp in the box crate maze and not reach 100% kills. Don't get me wrong, I like this level, but I don't think it's the best designed map in all of Doom 1. I like Romero's maps in E1 better. Computer Station is my pick for best level design in Doom 1, and Halls of the Damned is my pick for best of E2. 

Thy Flesh Consumed - E4M2, yes it's extremely difficult but it's possible to beat even without the BFG trick. E4M6 is also a good pick if you're basing it off extreme difficulty and challenge. E4 is amazing and would probably be considered the best episode of the old Doom if not for it's ridiculously difficult opener with Hell Beneath (Unruly Evil should've been the opening map IMO, swap it with Hell Beneath and it has much better progression). 

Doom 2 - Lots of good levels based around combat. Dead Simple is the first that deserves mention and then Downtown, Industrial Zone and Courtyard. Bloodfalls and The Abandoned Mines are also great, but I think The Living End is the best all around map of all of Doom 2 and you can definitely see the inspiration it led to with TNT's design around exploration and giant levels. 

TNT - Dead Zone is my pick for best all around map in TNT. There's also Nukage Processing, Power Control, Heck and Redemption. It's easy to hate TNT cause it has the three worst maps in an official game (Habitat, Mount Pain and Metal) but there's some real gems tucked in there beyond the inconsistent level design and themes. 

Plutonia - This is the hardest choice because every last one of these maps is well designed. I'm going to say Hunted because there simply isn't another map like it in all of the official games. The Casali brothers took inspiration from many official maps, but there is nothing similar to Hunted. The appeal to that map is out of it's uniqueness and using Archvilles to their absolute most threatening potential. 

I'm gonna be a broken record in all these threads but Refueling Base or Suburbs.

I'd say E4M2 or E4M6, these maps are just so well-crafted and beautiful looking that it's hard to top their mood and gameplay.

That beta version of the catacombs felt all over the place btw. Glad they repurposed most of its parts for The Spirit World. I noticed that it contained the gray ash wall texture from Doom1 - curiously enough that texture is absent from the final Doom 2 WAD, replaced by that other, uglier ash texture that we can see a lot of in MAP16.

Which Iwad map is very favourite is a difficult one. I like near every level for some reason or another.

Faves:

DooM: E3M1. A very obvious choice. Short, sweet and streight to the point. Your in hell and no nice and simple zombiemen. Instead it's Imps, Demons and cacos right from the start and all you have is a pistol (or shotgun/rocket launcher later on ^_^)

DooM II: Barrels O' Fun. No really. I seriously feel like this map gets way to bad of a rap. Fun, explosive and really goofy. Plus a very derpy song that only plays in this one level. :3

Plutonia: Despite how much I hate Plutonia Map 29 is a gem in my eyes. Fantastic layout, gorgeous designs and a very fun level to blast through! 

TNT: (Not sure if secret levels count) Pharaoh. Map 31 is a very nice Egyptian design. Not the best level in the DooM series but for a wad that bored me, pharaoh did a great job :)

Least Fav:

DooM: E 4 M 2. Do I need to say WHY I hate perfect Hatred so much? *ahem* 10 barons of hell *ahem*

DooM II: Map 27. Far too cryptic. And also very unforgiving

Plutonia: Every other level  Err I'd have to go with map 27. Instantly in the open and a few chaingunners see you and will start firing soon. Arch viles hidden in cages where they can keep resurrecting chain gunners. Let's just say I had a REALLY bad time with 27...

TNT: Genuinely I forgot. I just found TNT to be too dull... sorry :(

Best two

UDooM: E4M2/6

DooM II: Map11/29

TNT: Map09/13

Plutonia: Map32/29

Worst two

UDooM: E1M10/E3M5

DooM II: Map24/33

TNT: Map22/27

Plutonia: None

On 6/12/2018 at 4:14 PM, FrancisT18 said:

Best two

UDooM: E4M2/6

DooM II: Map11/29

TNT: Map09/13

Plutonia: Map32/29

 

Worst two

UDooM: E1M10/E3M5

DooM II: Map24/33

TNT: Map22/27

Plutonia: None

I agree wholeheartedly with your UDoom and D2 picks for the best maps. Exactly these ones. TNT and Plutonia well, they're just fan megawads as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and what are E1M10 and Map33? I didn't think UDoom and D2 had super-secret levels of this variety.

Some of my personal favourites include:

E2M7: Spawning Vats - a nice mix of what's been seen throughout Episode 2.

E3M6: Mt. Erebus - my favourite level of the game. It's radically different from the other levels (it feels more open) but still feels really good.

E3M9: Warrens - a good example of a gimmick being used well.

Map24: The Chasm - everyone hates this map, but I really like it. A great mix of atmosphere and traps.

Map28: The Spirit World - a proper Hell level! 2 Spider Masterminds, quite a few Arch-Viles, cool traps and tons of energy cells.

Map28: Heck - the best level of TNT (and made by Milo Casali, so it should go without saying it's good). Good traps and design.

Map11: Hunted - a weird (but somehow still fitting) choice of music and great suspense makes this a fantastic map.

Map31: Cyberden - just a great gimmick map.

Map32: Go 2 It - the granddaddy of slaughtermaps still holds up today, with its ingenious traps and monster placement.

Map29: Odyssey of Noises - perhaps the best official level ever made. It actually looks like a city, and the traps are nasty but survivable. I just love it.

Map01*: Titan Manor - some people don't like Jim Flynn maps, but this contribution to the Master Levels is awesome. Great design and thing placement.

Now, of course, there are quite a lot of other levels that are really good, but these are the ones I consider the best.

* Loads of levels in the Master Levels are classified as Map01.

@XfingFor E1M10 and Map33, I'm referring to the XBox levels. 

4 hours ago, Xfing said:

Oh, and what are E1M10 and Map33? I didn't think UDoom and D2 had super-secret levels of this variety.

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/E1M10:_Sewers_(Xbox_Doom)

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/MAP33:_Betray_(Xbox_Doom_II)

Hard to pick one favorite. I've always been partial to E4M3 (Sever The Wicked) because it has more of a sense of scale than most other IWAD maps, it feels like a big demonic city or something, and it's nice and non-linear, although not as super non-linear as the Doom II city maps.

Favorite maps: doom 2 map 15 and evilution map 32

least favorite: the evilution maps with mandatory secrets. Fuck that noise!

No idea why Odyssey of Noises is so loved. The gameplay is perhaps great, but aesthetically it's waaaay too brown. Brown everywhere!