Should I suicide after beating a level?

Is it proper Doom ethics to kill yourself after beating a stage? Supposedly, it's possible to beat every stage starting with just the pistol, and that is the way they are intended to be played. Of course, I've heard many people say you're supposed to use weapons from level to level, because many secrets in some levels are at the very end (like the E3M1 rocket launcher).

What's the attitude here at Doomworld? Do you beat the game on an episode basis, or level basis with just the pistol?

I play keeping the weapons from level to level. Once I beat a mapset I may go back and try to pistol my way through some of the levels.

I play through keeping the weapons from level to level, but when I want a challenge I play each level starting with just the pistol.

I play it Arcade style, without savegames. If I die, I just pistol-start from the beginning of the level as if I'd inserted a fresh quarter and hit Start again.

It is generally considered a sign of a good megawad when the levels within it are tough enough that you could really use the weapons from previous levels, but not so tough that they cannot be beaten from a pistol start. If a level can't be beaten from a pistol start, then the the level cannot be played in isolation. And many doomers may play single specific levels because they are their favorietes or to beat a speed running record.

I generally assume that, unless stated otherwise, each map is designed to be playable from a pistol start (as is the case with most classic megawads, and I regard it as a gameplay flaw if they are not), and play them that way. That also has the benefit that you don't need to use savegames.

Most megawads and episodes are designed to get harder as they go along though, and with the expectation (though not the requirement) that many people will prefer to carry weapons and ammo from one level to the next. The choice is yours, and really it just adds to the game's replayability value.

The problem is, some people don't put the weapons in the next level in a megeawd (ie lvl 1 to lv 2), they just put in the ammo. Unless there are Zombies.

They assume everyone uses a port that automatically saves at the beginning of the level.

Thus, a few ZDoom-specific levels do not many extra weapons in their levels.

I'm so lame that I need to use savegames and I don't commit suicide at the end of the level... Whaaaaaa... *cries*

ellmo said:

I'm so lame that I need to use savegames and I don't commit suicide at the end of the level... Whaaaaaa... *cries*

Me too. Quicksaving works wonders, and I use it like every 2 minutes of play.

Yeah, like wildweasel I dont save. If I die in a map I just restart it with the pistol. Exceptions are made in cases where it's obvious that you're supposed to keep your ammo (like in some zdoom map sets).

Higher Game said:

Is it proper Doom ethics to kill yourself after beating a stage?

Play it your own way: There's no "proper ethics"

WildWeasel said:

I play it Arcade style, without savegames. If I die, I just pistol-start from the beginning of the level as if I'd inserted a fresh quarter and hit Start again.

Yeah, pretty much this is what I do.

evilhomerdoomer said:
The problem is, some people don't put the weapons in the next level in a megeawd (ie lvl 1 to lv 2), they just put in the ammo. Unless there are Zombies.

Yeah. The solution is to right click the wad icon, and then click delete.

It doesn't really matter how you play .. unless you have proof in the form of a recorded demo, you might as well claim you maxkill'ed every level in Doom 2 with the pistol and fists.

Wanna impress someone? Record a demo. :P

I was thinking of playing Doom 2 the Marathon Infinity way. That game takes away all your weapons after certain points in the game. This is easy to do in Doom 1, but I'd have to use the level warp cheat in Doom 2. I'd remove my weapons in levels 7, 12, and 21 (since there's events that happen after finishing level 6, 11, and 20). I think this would be an interesting way to play through the game.

Yes. "Half Life" did this successfully as well.

In general, I'd say you can pretty much play the game how you want. After all, it's possible to go through all the levels in succession (without suicide), and it's also possible to warp to the individual maps. I usually do both. :-)

It's all about how *you* like to play the game.