Are you supposed to kill every demon?

First things first, I've been posting A LOT lately, so I think this will be my last topic for a bit of time.

So I've been playing on HMP lately, and I've noticed that I usually have to clear out a whole area of demon hordes, just to move on, even when the point I need to get to is open and I don't have to deal with all the enemies, yet still, I have to kill all of them to get satisfaction. And it isn't because I want to see that 100% kills on the intermission screen, it is just that I feel like ID (or others) put them there to fight. My question is, are you supposed to clear out every room? or are you supposed to run away, because many large rooms with dozens of enemies can kind of slow down the pace (in my opinion), and I feel like the game wants you to clear out as many demons as possible before you get to the next section, but only the ones posing as threats (not the zombieman who is hundreds of "feet" away). Still, I kill all demons I see. But did ID really want you to kill those imps, or are they only there to block you from getting to the skull key, or to hurry you up, and get the hell out of Hell? 

Maybe even some wadders (is that a word? LoL) out there can explain it from their point of view?

thank you all!

2 hours ago, LiT_gam3r said:

are you supposed to clear out every room

If they are required to progress, then do it.

If not, don't bother. It's as simple as that.

The intermission stats are there for those who cares about stats.

I usually do 100% kills, unless the last remaining demons are holed up in some well-hidden secret, in which case I don't bother.

Defeating all the enemies is not necessary in Doom unless you are playing a map with an arena that does require all monsters to die for an exit to appear. Now my preferred way of playing does involve hunting down all the enemies in a level but only to a certain extent. I won't be heartbroken if I missed a couple of enemies hidden in some hard to find secret.

"No player may plant his flag on enemy territory until all the enemy are dead."

'Judge Dredd: The Judge Child Quest' got Doom before Doom even existed :)

Why would I want to kill everything? I'd have no cacodemons to hug. Q_Q

The only good demon is a dead demon. Strictly speaking the only requirement to get from the start of a map to the end is to not die. But come on. It's Doom. If you see it, you kill it.

I do it if the grinding level is low enough.

I think you're supposed to do whatever you want. Most maps give enough ammo to kill everything so you have the option to do that or just kill the things that get in your way.

Personally, I do. My orders are to clear every sector.

57 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

The only good demon is a dead demon. Strictly speaking the only requirement to get from the start of a map to the end is to not die. But come on. It's Doom. If you see it, you kill it.

A moment of silence for all those innocent Soulspheres that got shot up by an overzealous marine...

I kill every demon that I encounter. But I don't hunt them down for 100%

I thought you were supposed to make friends with some of them.

It's a game. They created it so you would have fun.

There are many ways to play that achieve that end result, so choose the one that you enjoy the most.

It's entirely up to the player, there's no right or wrong approach. That's why we have everything from NoMo to UV-Max speedrunning categories.

Personally I tend to kill every demon I get into a fight with, but if I get to the end of the level and there's a bunch still alive I'm not going to go hunting them out. If they managed to hide from me, then they get to live.

This is an interesting question. I've been playing Doom more or less continuously since I heard rumors, as a kid, of "a fancier Wolf3d except it's futuristic". For years I refused to leave the level until I found that last imp. It was unthinkable.

Nowadays, my view is that the goal of any game is to finish it, and I resent any implication that I should somehow adopt a "sporting attitude" with the enemies.

But I think Doom's open-endedness contributes to the diversity and strength of the community. Some people care mostly about combat, some are speedrunners, some are tourists, some are collectathon completionists. You're all playing the game correctly, if you're enjoying it.

Pacifist runners and speed runners don't. 

If that 100% makes you feel good, do it. 

7 hours ago, Dark Pulse said:

A moment of silence for all those innocent Soulspheres that got shot up by an overzealous marine...

Serves them right for looking at me funny.

I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill 'em all.

Doesn't matter. Get through those levels ASAP, kill the IoS, win the game. All the surviving demons are collateral damage anyway per the ending text. 

Whatever tickles your fancy bro! Some people charge for the exit, and some with a more completionist mindset go for 100% everything.

Leave some witnesses to spread fear among their ranks

Not really. You are supposed to finish the levels.

I wish I could find it, but I remember a video of Romero explicitly saying at some point that you weren't meant to kill all the monsters. They're obstacles to completing the level, like enemies in a Mario game.

Leaving demons alive: Meh, is okay.

Leaving ammo behind: I will backtrack to the ends of the Earth before I let that happen!

I kill 'em all unless I get to the end of a map and see there's still a few enemies left alive. If I'm not purposefully grinding UV-max then fuck running around the whole map again looking for that shitass imp grunting and gurling in some dark corner.

2 hours ago, Gifty said:

I wish I could find it, but I remember a video of Romero explicitly saying at some point that you weren't meant to kill all the monsters. They're obstacles to completing the level, like enemies in a Mario game.

I'd really like to see that. I got on a kick where I watched every talk of his I could find. I really enjoy listening to him talk about game design.

When you're playing Doom, you don't necessarily think about the fact that these were guys who set up their office so they could clone Mario 3 pixel-by-pixel.

When I play (with the volume very loud because the game is a classic) I play to beat the levels.  On H.M.P there is a certain number of homany they have in all the levels and T.B.H in all my times playing doom since day 1.. I don't worry about finishing off all of them in the level.  I sometimes stay in the level to listen to the music.. if they are blocking a pathway then the job needs to be done (no offense) 

Luring them to another spot can be helpful as well to save ammunition. 

it's just a game. 

"It does not kill me, so why should I kill it?" - Steffen Winterfeldt in 30nm6520.txt. That sums it up pretty neatly.

My brother's name is Steffen. To find someone with this name is extremely rare, although a Porsche lead designer's last name is Steffen.

There are certain levels where killing all the demons is a little bit unfeasible like E4M1 and others where it's sort of an inconvenience (the cacos at the start of E2M3 and the cacos in the hell chamber of E3M4). Otherwise, yeah, I don't like letting monsters live. When I play Angband I have to constantly remind myself "this isn't Doom, I don't need to kill all the monsters". In angband, it's generally not feasible and a good way to end one's quest early, to try to kill all the monsters on every level.