Pistol Started for the first time, and it's sick

I played Sigil, and I took to the opportunity to go UV pistol start (no save) for the first time.

And I gotta say, it's surprisingly really fun. The nerves I feel whenever I have to make any move are unreal. Big fights carry a lot more weight since losing in them means that I will be losing all my progress. I find myself having deep breaths just to calm myself down whenever I can. The stakes in everything are multiplied compared to when I'm relying on saves and have nothing to lose.

Not to mention, pistol starting makes things really funny. Normally, I like to hang on to my strong weapons' ammo and not use them as much as possible. But, with pistol start, there's zero point in saving ammunition for the next map, so I end up using everything at my disposal whenever I can. Maps ended up becoming a lot more fun thanks to this.

I don't think I'll be UV pistol starting in ultra large maps any time soon. I gotta admit that I've been missing out by not playing like this for smaller maps. I think I finally understand why people play like this whenever they can. It's definitely something else.

Sigil is nice like that, the maps are relatively short. It is tough from a pistol start, but this makes it a lot of fun to complete. I have just finished it and really enjoyed getting the better of it. If you enjoy pistol starting then go for it, but always good to keep an open mind for future WADs.

I really enjoy the idea of “contained per level” progression as opposed to a long and continuous playthrough. Referencing this other popular thread as of late, It’s also a blunt but fun way to steer players towards using weapons they wouldn’t otherwise.

Way long ago I sort of wish Doom had starts similar to Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, “here’s your loadout for this mission - good luck”, and then I realized pistol starts are pretty close to that.

A big thing with no saves for me is also retrying and getting better. Especially when I face a map that I absolutely can't beat I end up using saves as breakpoints for practicing specific scenarios (most recent example is Ancient Alien's MAP20 red key fight). Then I'll revisit it, trying to figure out a good strategy for that section so that when I finally make full attempts I will have a plan. I will also have an overall plan for the entire map for which enemies I can/should use what ammo on. Not pistol starting obviously makes that kind of playstyle redundant even though exceptions exist.

I don't know exactly why this way of playing the level "with only what it provides you" tickles my fancy so much, but my guess is that #1: that's what games were like when I grew up - you can't just immediately re-attempt for better RNG, and #2: not pistol starting feels like a faux god mode.

10 minutes ago, BGrieber said:

I really enjoy the idea of “contained per level” progression as opposed to a long and continuous playthrough. Referencing this other popular thread as of late, It’s also a blunt but fun way to steer players towards using weapons they wouldn’t otherwise.

 

Way long ago I sort of wish Doom had starts similar to Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, “here’s your loadout for this mission - good luck”, and then I realized pistol starts are pretty close to that.

This can actually be done fairly easily, but it requires help from the previous level (which needs to be set up so that the exit kills the player). The original well known example is Eternal Doom, where level 13 is a short level made to kill you and take away your gear from the first 12 maps, and then level 14 is exactly what it says on the tin: a designed for Tyson style play map called "Pistol Only" (technically you do get the shotgun and chaingun, but not till almost the end of the map).

Several megawads use the technique repeatedly to create "episodes" within a Doom II wad, such as both Scythes and Speed of Doom.

I'm pretty sure it's also a simple matter with GZDoom and ACS scripts to reset the player's gear as desired, although I'm not familiar off the top of my head as to the exact code you use.

Keep in mind that "pistol start" and "no saves" are separate things - you can pistol-start a map but still save in the middle of the level.