Is E4 in Ultimate Doom optional?

i beat inferno but is thy flesh consumed optional???

If you're playing a console version and want dem cheevs, it's not.

But otherwise, well, isn't the very concept of videogames as entertainment media by its very definition optional? You wanna give it a miss, give it a miss.

It's not canonically necessary to create a transition between Doom 1 and Doom 2, if that's what you mean. Thy Flesh Consumed was created after Doom 2, and I'm pretty sure there's no real explanation for how you get back to Earth no matter which episode you end with.

As far as I understand it, This 4th Episode makes DOOM to ULTIMATE DOOM,
so to complete ULTIMATE DOOM, you have to play all 4.
To complete DOOM, the first 3 Episodes is sufficient.

Not Jabba's is right. You're not missing anything, from a narrative sense, if you don't play Thy Flesh Consumed. The same is true if you don't play Sigil. (I know you didn't ask about it, but it is a natural extension of your original questions.) Both are supposed to take place between the end of Dis and the beginning of Entryway, but it's not as if there is some facet of Doom 2 that doesn't really make sense unless you play Episodes 4 and 5.

Now, from a gameplay standpoint, if you don't play Thy Flesh Consumed, comments like "the first maps are the most difficult of the episode" or "Bethesda took out the Nine Inch Nails easter egg" won't make sense to you. Comments about Sigil should be viewed in the same light. If you can handle not understanding such comments, then feel free to never play Thy Flesh Consumed (or Sigil).

The original trilogy is what composes the base game and how Doom was when it first came out back in 1993. TFC is an extra episode that was added later on, and canonically, you're not missing anything by not playing it. All 4 episodes form what is known as Ultimate Doom.

Pegleg ninja'd me apparently so I'll echo this as well: 

2 minutes ago, Pegleg said:

Now, from a gameplay standpoint, if you don't play Thy Flesh Consumed, comments like "the first maps are the most difficult of the episode" or "Bethesda took out the Nine Inch Nails easter egg" won't make sense to you. Comments about Sigil should be viewed in the same light. If you can handle not understanding such comments, then feel free to never play Thy Flesh Consumed (or Sigil).

I’ve always seen it as optional, if you beat Knee Deep, Shores and Inferno, you can say you’ve beaten DOOM. In modern terms, think of Thy Flesh Consumed as “DLC” and Ultimate DOOM as the “Game of the Year Edition”.

Technically, even all the levels are optional, since every single one of them in the IWADs was designed for pistol start.

59 minutes ago, Not Jabba said:

It's not canonically necessary to create a transition between Doom 1 and Doom 2, if that's what you mean. Thy Flesh Consumed was created after Doom 2, and I'm pretty sure there's no real explanation for how you get back to Earth no matter which episode you end with.

The text screen at the end of Inferno does explain it:

So there is a pretty fluid transition between Inferno and Doom II, from a narrative perspective. I guess Thy Flesh Consumed fits in canonically only if it does in fact take place on Earth. 

The whole Doom game is optional. E4 is official part of Doom just like any other episode. So what that it was added later? E2-3 was not included in first (shareware) release too.

When you realize Cyberdemons and Spider Masterminds appear as normal monsters, you know everything they say is not really consistent, thus optional ;P

I played it on my recent run-through , It'd been a while. You're not missing a great deal in my opinion though it is a bit tougher than the rest of the game.

Just have fun , I'm doing a bit of a play-through all the games before Eternal comes out and I've skipped Final DOOM and DOOM 64, some would consider this blasphemous. 

E4 basically is Ultimate Doom. Before E4 was added it was just "Doom" or "Registered Doom". But play whatever you like. One thing that is definitely optional is the flimsy "story".

Only if you don't care about getting revenge for Daisy.

Be a man and a half. For Daisy. 

Thy Flesh Consumed had good level design for the time, but the first two levels are hard as balls. With that knowledge, choose to play it or not.

You are better off just moving on to Doom 2 if you didn't play it yet. E4M2 will hit you like a truck unless you can find a few op secrets in it.

Sorry, E4M2's a masterpiece and definitely the best thing about the episode.

Although @Pegg -- you're not wrong in the hitting-like-a-truck part of that. ;)

I didn't say it is bad, I love maps with trucks and demolishers. But he is better off playing doom 2 then either this, TNT or Plutonia.

I'd honestly disagree, especially since the last third of TNT is pretty crusty.

Don't get me wrong, E4M1 will kick his ass, and so will E4M2 the first time. But source ports like GZDoom often have some anti-frustration features, like for example, setting it so ammo and items respawn.

Yeah it kind of destroys the challenge of the map in a way, but you still have to be able to survive until stuff respawns at least.

24 minutes ago, Dark Pulse said:

Don't get me wrong, E4M1 will kick his ass, and so will E4M2 the first time. But source ports like GZDoom often have some anti-frustration features, like for example, setting it so ammo and items respawn.

I hear doom always had this weird "Anti Frustration Feature" called difficulty settings.

14 minutes ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

I hear doom always had this weird "Anti Frustration Feature" called difficulty settings.

And to some people, that's not what they want - they want all the monsters and challenge but just a little boost.

It's up to him how he plays his game, I'm just throwing it out there.

E4M1 has a sane amount of health pickups on HMP. I'm just throwing it out there.

Some cool maps so definitely mandatory for a fun time!

Jokes aside, optional but worth checking out, good stuff imo. Harder than the other episodes though.

Episode 4 is fun. Go play it.

E4M2 UV Max without taking damage, easy.

I don't know why no one mentions E4M6 when they say E4M1/M2 are hard. M6 has no armor whatsoever, and without fore knowledge, the level is also really hard. I wonder people probably don't have the patience to play until E4M6, or make a better educated guess to convince me ;P

4 minutes ago, GarrettChan said:

I don't know why no one mentions E4M6 when they say E4M1/M2 are hard.

Probably because M6 isn't, y'know, the opening two stages of the episode. It's alright where it is, fam.

I view E4 just like No Rest for the Living in Doom 2. It's bonus content and not mandatory as far as experiencing the core games is concerned.

9 minutes ago, GarrettChan said:

E4M2 UV Max without taking damage, easy.

 

I don't know why no one mentions E4M6 when they say E4M1/M2 are hard. M6 has no armor whatsoever, and without fore knowledge, the level is also really hard. I wonder people probably don't have the patience to play until E4M6, or make a better educated guess to convince me ;P

Probably because most folks play the episodes continuously unless they're recording and going for some maxes.

47 minutes ago, Jayextee said:

Probably because M6 isn't, y'know, the opening two stages of the episode. It's alright where it is, fam.

This does make sense.

40 minutes ago, Spectre01 said:

Probably because most folks play the episodes continuously unless they're recording and going for some maxes.

I have thought about this reason before. TBH though, M6 is still quite hard even you play continuously.