The Doom Confessional Booth

I think of chicken parm whenever I see "devparm" on the screen.

Doom was largely the reason why I got into IT for work. As a kid, I only had the Shareware copy of Doom on my computer, while my grandmother had the full registered copy of Doom (it was version 1.666, I eventually got it patched to 1.9 and then Ultimate Doom). After a while I got sick of playing just episode 1 and finally got the entire Doom series on the PC. One of the things I noticed when playing on my computer was that the music sounded a lot different (IMO worse) than what it did on my grandmother's computer. I did some asking around and everyone told me I had to get a new soundcard (which I imagine aren't really relevant these days, please correct me if I'm wrong). I started asking what is a soundcard, how do I buy one, what does it look like, etc. From there I learned about PCI slots, motherboards, opening up the computer, and so on.

If you're curious, my grandmother had a Sound Blaster AWE32 in her computer (Windows 95, 96MB of RAM, 200 MHz Pentium processor, ran pretty decently). My Compaq Presario (forgot the model number) had a built-in ESS Solo Synthesizer sound device. It sounded awful at worst and lackluster at best, but if you want to listen for yourself, someone was kind enough to upload the entire Doom soundtrack (Doom, Doom II, TNT) using this device.

I saw someone on a chat earlier under the name "Reol Watanabe" and for a moment my brain parsed it as "REoL Wannabe" and was thinking "Surely they could have picked a better role model than that".

I have never beaten the first couple maps of E4 without savescumming and grabbing the BFG through the wall.

15 minutes ago, Rampy470 said:

I have never beaten the first couple maps of E4 without savescumming.

You should watch a video or two of them, one where you can also analyze the tactics.

For E4M2 I suggest cheesing your way through by getting the BFG through the wall at the beginning. Something like this. But what I prefer doing sometimes is getting some weapons and ammo, pick up a radiation suit, then drop in the lava pit below and take care of as many enemies as I can. It proves to be the best tactic for me. E4 is fairly easy, it's just the first 2 maps that have some parts which can claim your life if you're not careful.

My weird confession. I don't like doom 2's levels much. But oddly enough, I really liked D2TWID (except for its last 4-5 levels)

I enjoy mapping more than playing Doom. :I

The maps I love speedrunning the most are my own maps.

5 hours ago, elend said:

I enjoy mapping more than playing Doom. :I

I'm certainly guilty of this too. :P

I play Doom with Brutal Doom + an Xbox360 controller (gasp!)

mapping > playing

On 2/17/2019 at 12:04 PM, peach freak said:

Doom was largely the reason why I got into IT for work. As a kid, I only had the Shareware copy of Doom on my computer, while my grandmother had the full registered copy of Doom (it was version 1.666, I eventually got it patched to 1.9 and then Ultimate Doom). After a while I got sick of playing just episode 1 and finally got the entire Doom series on the PC. One of the things I noticed when playing on my computer was that the music sounded a lot different (IMO worse) than what it did on my grandmother's computer. I did some asking around and everyone told me I had to get a new soundcard (which I imagine aren't really relevant these days, please correct me if I'm wrong). I started asking what is a soundcard, how do I buy one, what does it look like, etc. From there I learned about PCI slots, motherboards, opening up the computer, and so on.

 

If you're curious, my grandmother had a Sound Blaster AWE32 in her computer (Windows 95, 96MB of RAM, 200 MHz Pentium processor, ran pretty decently). My Compaq Presario (forgot the model number) had a built-in ESS Solo Synthesizer sound device. It sounded awful at worst and lackluster at best, but if you want to listen for yourself, someone was kind enough to upload the entire Doom soundtrack (Doom, Doom II, TNT) using this device.

I wish I had your grandmother.

Some personal controversial opinions :

- A mapper should be able to beat his own map on UV or at least on a lower difficulty without dying.

- a good music choice is sometimes more important than beautiful aesthetics in a map.

- I like custom textures but I above all love maps using cleverly the Iwad's ones.

- Revenants are more dangerous than arch-viles.

- I rather prefer TNT than Plutonia.

- I don't like jumping , crouching or just using the freelook in Doom.

- I like seeing zdoom maps using a lot of creative features but it's no more doom for me. A wad where you can jump , talk to NPC.... is a new game imo.

- Slaughtermaps are fun when you have a BFG and tons to ennemies to kill with it.

- A lot of speedmaps are actually more fun than many longer maps.

- Scythe 2 is overrated. (I hated those plasma marines. Scythe 1 is just better)

Been playing Doom since I was a kid, and I still haven't published a WAD. (10 years, I guess there should be no execuse.) But I just don't have the patience for it.

19 minutes ago, Hypпotiк said:

Been playing Doom since I was a kid, and I still haven't published a WAD. (10 years, I guess there should be no execuse.) But I just don't have the patience for it.

yeah, ive been lurking this forum almost everyday since 2012 and have only released like 3 things on here (one of them being abandoned before an 'actual' release)

I don't think I'll ever get to making maps, as it stands I either lack motivation or time, and don't really have anything in my mind.

Besides, they'll probably play like hot garbage.

I'd like to map but yeah, the motivation and time thing. 😑

More controversial opinions or doom habits :

-Save-scumming removes all the interest in a game. If you need to save between each trap or every 3 minutes , just play on god-mode or play on a lower difficulty.

- stealing ideas from other maps is not a bad thing as long as you try to create something new with them.

- Making good maps is not that hard , but making memorable ones is.

-I rarely finish megawads because I usually stop when I die.

- No matter the maps are fun to play or not , a good mapper must sometimes take risks and getting out of his comfort zone.

- Having your own mapping style isn't necessarly good. Some mappers have a boring style.

-Symmetric architecture is boring.

-Mancubus and spectres are really underrated in hard maps. The more I play doom , the more I find them really dangerous.

-Sometimes , there is nothing more fun than killing tons of monsters with a SSG in cramped corridors.

- Lost souls have too much health.

- Making a "coop friendly" map is not really important for me. Doom is a singleplayer game before everything else.

Gameplay is ALWAYS more important than aesthetics. I'll play a hideous but fun wad any day rather than a boring but beautiful map.

45 minutes ago, Roofi said:

-Save-scumming removes all the interest in a game. If you need to save between each trap or every 3 minutes , just play on god-mode or play on a lower difficulty.

58 minutes ago, Roofi said:

-Save-scumming removes all the interest in a game. If you need to save between each trap or every 3 minutes , just play on god-mode or play on a lower difficulty.

- Lost souls have too much health.

Agreed with these points. Thankfully Eviternity reduces their HP, but I've felt that the console versions of classic Doom got it right by giving them Imp strength.

2 hours ago, Roofi said:

-Save-scumming removes all the interest in a game. If you need to save between each trap or every 3 minutes , just play on god-mode or play on a lower difficulty.

I'd rather save-scum than go through the same damn area every time I die. feels like a waste of time. 

On 3/4/2019 at 3:52 PM, tempdecal.wad said:

I'd rather save-scum than go through the same damn area every time I die. feels like a waste of time. 

Yeah, this.

Besides, I go through a megawad only once, usually, it's not like I'll ever revisit it after I'm done so that I can deal with it better than before. And if I reach the point of SS in the said wad, it means it has stopped being enjoyable, and the only thing I care is to get done with it and move on.

Furthermore, it's not like I've ever been good at video games, Doom included, and the whole 2018 series of Ironman are only proof for this, I have not survived a single mapset. So many opportunities, yet I could never seize a single one, not even Plutonia. I have accepted that I'm bad at Doom, end of discussion.

I appreciate the fact that despite this there's people out there who support me, sometimes I think no one has a clue how much that means to me, but it doesn't change the fact that in my eyes, I'm a mediocre player.

I agree with Roofi about Scythe 2. I'm currently replaying it and I'm at Map22... I just want to say that the Evil Marine (especially the super fast ones found in this WAD) are cunts. 

I'm not against regular saves in order to not have to restart from too far. However , I see some players saving each time they see a monster or activate a small trap so that they nearly restart where they died.

Imo , the fear of dying adds so much fun in the adventure. It forces me to play carefully at the risk of having to restart from the beginning. 

I like sometimes playing doom as an arcade game where you have to go as far as possible in a wad without dying. It's why I love the ironman challenge.

I first finished Doom 2 playing the Play Station one version ! 

In 2009 I was hooked on Borderlands one and thought it was better than Doom!

10 hours ago, Roofi said:

I'm not against regular saves in order to not have to restart from too far. However , I see some players saving each time they see a monster or activate a small trap so that they nearly restart where they died.

Imo , the fear of dying adds so much fun in the adventure. It forces me to play carefully at the risk of having to restart from the beginning.

Yep, and even I'm trying to curb these as much as possible. Here's the system I've put in place for myself:

If I can ace a level, on UV, with no deaths, and kill/find everything, that feels really good.

If I can do the first three but avoid/miss stuff, it still feels pretty good.

If it's like the prior but I died once or twice, can kinda suck, maybe really suck depending on how long the map was or if it was a dumb death/mistake, but ultimately it's no big deal, I can catch up to speed to where I was last much faster as I know what to expect and how to approach everything better.

If it's like the previous but I've died three times, all genuine ass defeats despite my best efforts, and preferably in the same places at that, I may decide to use 'key saves' (if keys are available, they may not always be) but I won't be too happy. It's better than constantly restarting, but it has to be a very difficult level for this to become an available option.

If it's like the last but I continue to keep fucking dying, little or big, from the same encounters or more, to the point key saves don't really matter or are now becoming a major inconvenience, then I will 'give up' and save and load whenever I deem necessary for 'free' until I've completed the map. By that point I accept the fact I'm either garbage at the level, or need to lower the difficulty in the future and practice.

On 3/3/2019 at 9:03 PM, Roofi said:

Some personal controversial opinions

Recently remembered one of mine. It's basically what 40oz said at some point (probably not the exact same words, but the point is the same):

"If you design maps to be purposefully sadistic and not fun, then you're an asshole. And if you enjoy maps just for that, then you're an asshole too."

On 3/4/2019 at 8:44 AM, Roofi said:

More controversial opinions or doom habits :

 

-Save-scumming removes all the interest in a game. If you need to save between each trap or every 3 minutes , just play on god-mode or play on a lower difficulty.

^This

Save-scumming is just the same as cheating imo.

Also, If there is no punishment when you die, then there is no fun (at least for me) and you don't improve as a player, since there is no motivation to stay alive. Still, I find very cool when I set my own rules: I like to save only after beating the stage, or after getting a key if I'm playing a really long\hard map. If I'm playing an easier mapset, being subject to a pistol start after dying is a good one too.

51 minutes ago, Noiser said:

^This

Save-scumming is just the same as cheating imo.

 

Also, If there is no punishment when you die, then there is no fun (at least for me) and you don't improve as a player, since there is no motivation to stay alive.

Except some of us have accepted we suck anyway, in addition to not having any fun in restarting the map from the beginning only to die in the same place over and over like idiots. Waste of time and pointless frustration, an exercise in futility.

I'm rarely SS, but when I do, I have no shame. Setting up rules like that is pretty cool tho, except when things don't go accordingly, which is more often than not.