Never played any WADS before, where should I start?

I've played through Doom 1 and 2 countless time. I think that they're 2 of the most entertaining games ever made, and and I'd like to start playing WADs? What are some really good beginner friendly ones that have aged well?

I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for, except that I'd like to play wads that are at least a few levels long instead of one super long one. I'd also like to play ones that are look really impressive and have a lot of cool things to see. Also if possible I'd like to play some that have interesting stories to them, and have interesting messages like Doom 1 has when you beat an episode. Although feel freel to suggest things that don't have the latter, it'd just be a nice bonus, just let me know if it does.

I'd also like to talk about my experiences as I go through them, as I think it'd be entertaining to talk about them as someone that's new to them with a lot of people that have gone through a lot of them.

If you want similar classic feel as the original episodes you might want to check out dinner.wad from 1996, one of the earliest episode 2 replacements for Doom.

For Doom 2 you should try Memento Mori, Requiem, Scythe 2, Alien Vendetta, Ancient Aliens, Eviternity to name a few good ones. These span between 90's into the recent years.

25 minutes ago, Kristian Nebula said:

If you want similar classic feel as the original episodes you might want to check out dinner.wad from 1996, one of the earliest episode 2 replacements for Doom.

For Doom 2 you should try Memento Mori, Requiem, Scythe 2, Alien Vendetta, Ancient Aliens, Eviternity to name a few good ones. These span between 90's into the recent years.

Oh wow, all the way back from 1996? Are you sure that it's aged well? Also, how many levels is it? Also, do any of the wads you recommended have any story moments in them? Edit: Oh, it's 9 levels, nice! Edit 2: skimmed a video showing off the first 2 levels. I'd like to at least have the first few wads I play have really interesting things to see, and the levels don't look that impressive.

I also don't think I mentioned needing the classic feel perse. Like I said, I've played Doom 1 and 2 countless times, I want something different.

38 minutes ago, Superrpgman said:

Like I said, I've played Doom 1 and 2 countless times, I want something different.

Cacowards are as good a place as any to roll your dice on the first few wads - it's not end all be all by any means, but at least you can be sure it's free of jokewads, myhouse.wads and babys_first_techbase.wads*.

There's plenty of something different in various ways, once you put your toe in the abyss you'll eventually be able to form your tastes more clearly as experience piles up.

* sifting through those may be fun too, but clearly not what's being requested here.

4 hours ago, Superrpgman said:

 

Oh wow, all the way back from 1996? Are you sure that it's aged well? Also, how many levels is it? Also, do any of the wads you recommended have any story moments in them? Edit: Oh, it's 9 levels, nice! Edit 2: skimmed a video showing off the first 2 levels. I'd like to at least have the first few wads I play have really interesting things to see, and the levels don't look that impressive.

 

I also don't think I mentioned needing the classic feel perse. Like I said, I've played Doom 1 and 2 countless times, I want something different.

Yeah, Dinner has some classic doom feel to it, a very nice 90's style episode replacement that plays well. It was one of the first wads I played back in the day. 

If you want something really different, try Ancient Aliens from the list :) 

Top entries of this list should be a good place to start.

If you’re looking for “vanilla” feel (meaning similar to the original games but maybe a little enhanced) some suggestions off the top of my head…

Doom 1: No End in Sight, Silence, 2002 A Doom Odyssey (and its fantastic new sequel 2022ADO), Deathless, Sinergy, Solar Struggle (also some single episode replacements like Incineration, Bedlam and of course Sigil)

Doom 2: Akeldama, Moonblood, Reverie, Baculus, Jenesis, Earthless Prelude, Zone 300/400, Alien Vendetta, Resurgence, Interception 1 and 2, maybe Scythe 1 and 2 or Memento Mori 1 and 2 or even something like Hellbound

If you want fancier stuff, as mentioned, the Cacowards are a great starting place! Eviternity and wads by Skillsaw are top of the list imo. (Valiant is maybe my favorite Skillsaw mapset!)

I know lists of “greatest wads ever” can be a little daunting so hopefully this helps narrow it down a bit.

There's some great suggestions in this thread:

I won't add any suggestions, as others have gave you a lot to be going on with but I will say if you've played Doom1/2 loads of times and not tried custom mapsets yet your in for a right treat. The base games are great but a lot of community mapsets are much, much better. They do tend to be from a little to a lot, lot harder though so if you've been playing the iwads on UV don't be worried if you need to switch down to HMP (my usual for first time playing a pwad) or maybe lower.

As others have suggested the Cacoawards winners are pretty much guaranteed to be good and I would highly recommend reading at least a few issues of The Doomworld Wadazine, it has great reviews of WADs both old and new as well as a load of interesting article's and just a great read.

All the suggestions so far are good so I won't add anything.  If you're just browsing though, you'll want to avoid anything with the word "Slaughter" in it and "Hell Revealed inspired" as those are types of gameplay you haven't dealt with yet.  If you haven't played TNT or Plutonia yet either, I'd start with those.  

Edit: TNT and Plutonia are however IWADs that you need to purchase to play.  But they're worth it as there are A LOT of maps inspired by them in the archive and even some that require them to play.

You can always try my summer WAD...

https://www.moddb.com/mods/gzdoom-launcher/downloads/naarok0fkor-summer-wad

What Ravendesk said. The number one entry in particular, Ancient Aliens, while admittedly very long, fits the rest of your criteria to a T. You can just go down from there after that.

I highly recommend Scythe 1, this wad have a very interesting learning curve imo. You know, most pWADs have a somewhat fixed difficulty pattern, sometimes getting chaotic with difficulty spikes - but Scythe starts very, very easy and gets progressively harder, making it a great "teacher" that starts from your level but goes beyond at each step. The last episode is a bit too hard, but even if you don't beat the whole thing (you don't have to) I think it's a worthy experience.

What's better than playing a vanilla recreation of the original Doom 3?

Being somewhat new to PWADs myself, I highly recommend jumping straight in at the deep(ish) end with Valiant. It's my absolute favourite of any I've played so far. It's not exactly beginner-friendly difficulty wise, but there's no law that says you have to play on UV to begin with. All the other boxes on your list it ticks and then some.

Visually it's fantastic and very distinctive, there are a few impressive new additions/variations to the monsters (both visually and functionally) and to a couple of the weapons also, the map design is consistently excellent and includes some really innovative ideas and it's all tied up in a cohesive story spanning across five episodes.

It's the total package and has everything you're looking for bar the difficulty, so if that's not a deal-breaker give it a go.

Something less than a full megawad? Maybe a little different?

For my money, try Equinox. I think it's only 12 or 13 maps long,

a few are just kindof the same level acting as a sort of hub into

the *real* maps. It tells a little bit of a story and has some very

interesting twists, both in design novelty and in gameplay.

Elsewise, there are specific levels of megawads that make for

an excellent time. Two that come immediately to mind are:

Alien Vendetta, Map13: Suicidal Tendencies

and

Eternal Doom, Map05: Time Gate

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/equinox

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/av

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/TeamTNT/eternal/eternal

Obviously start with Wow.wad 

I'd highly recommend starting with Eviternity. For me it serves as a perfect introduction to the modern megawad and should give you an appreciation of just how good a megawad can get in every department .

- Although it's a 32 map megawad, it has 6 themed five-map episodes which allows you to pick it up and knock it out in manageable bites. And the episodes are full of breathtaking environments and excellent maps catering to exploration afficionados and combat junkies alike.  

- New monsters which add more depth to the gameplay, while not completely alienating you from the vanilla experience.

- It's got a nice and gradual difficulty curve. The first 14 maps showcase this very well. There is a bit of a jump in difficulty from 15 onwards.. but nothing completely over the top.

- It has an unrivaled soundtrack. It was a great introduction to Jimmy Paddock and Stewboy for me.

- It's got 2 PHENOMENAL secret maps.

It's just the perfect way to start!

I want to second Eviternity.

@RoastDoom said everything I wanted to say!

I want to add some little advice:

- Do not be afraid to skip maps with -idclev, if the current map annoys you. You can always come back for revenge!

- Do not be afraid to use saves, especially on bigger maps!

- Difficulty settings can also help.

On 9/27/2022 at 6:18 AM, Kristian Nebula said:

If you want similar classic feel as the original episodes you might want to check out dinner.wad from 1996, one of the earliest episode 2 replacements for Doom.

For Doom 2 you should try Memento Mori, Requiem, Scythe 2, Alien Vendetta, Ancient Aliens, Eviternity to name a few good ones. These span between 90's into the recent years.

Jesus Christ, Scythe 2? Ancient Aliens? They're great WADs, but they're awful recommendations for someone who hasn't played much other than the first two games.

I'd recommend Vanguard by Skillsaw. I'd try it on a lower skill level, because things get pretty tough towards the end.

It's 13 maps long.

In addition to @Ravendesk's message I might recommend to take a look on

and

, in case you will decide to take a step outside Doom I / II niche.