Be Honest [E1 secrets]

I actually don't know :(

Option 1 -- it took me forever to find them all but it was completely worth it.

That stupid shootable wall on E1M2 took me friggin' forever to figure out. Sometimes it would open and sometimes it wouldn't. I blazed that whole room with a chaingun and it still didn't open for me.

I have Wolfenstein 3D to blame for my secret-searching obsession. It must have taken me four or so months before I figured out that some walls can be pushed. It was like finding the holy grail of gaming; it became a completely fresh experience once the secret passage was introduced.

As much as I love secrets, I lose some respect for maps if I find myself discovering secrets before I find the next progression of the actual level (Eternal Doom 3, I'm looking at you).

I think there may be a couple of secrets in the E1M6-M9 range I don't know yet. I feel like it's a sin to look at anyone's maps other than my own in a map editor so I may never actually find them in my life unless it really bothers the hell out of me. At this point I'm not too worried about it.

I know of most I'd say, but there are still a few that are complete surprises, like one I found on... E1M3 I think?

Toughguy said:

That stupid shootable wall on E1M2 took me friggin' forever to figure out. Sometimes it would open and sometimes it wouldn't. I blazed that whole room with a chaingun and it still didn't open for me.

I had found that door accidentally, from the shotgun salvo that also killed the imp. Because of that, I thought that Doom has death triggers. Disappointingly, no.

Toughguy said:

I have Wolfenstein 3D to blame for my secret-searching obsession. It must have taken me four or so months before I figured out that some walls can be pushed. It was like finding the holy grail of gaming; it became a completely fresh experience once the secret passage was introduced.

At least one of the levels in Wolf3D requires you to use a "secret" wall to pass it. It's right at the start too.

I had only the v1.1 shareware release of DOOM for most of 1995 when I was 12. I found a lot of secrets that spring. The day I found all the remaining secrets in E1M3 in one go was a sweet day. That map has awesome secrets.

Aliotroph? said:

At least one of the levels in Wolf3D requires you to use a "secret" wall to pass it. It's right at the start too.

There are a few of those, but they're all in the registered version ... I didn't get the registered version of Wolf3D 'till after Doom became available.

Aliotroph? said:

I had only the v1.1 shareware release of DOOM for most of 1995 when I was 12. I found a lot of secrets that spring. The day I found all the remaining secrets in E1M3 in one go was a sweet day. That map has awesome secrets.

Getting all of the secrets on E1M3 is still my most memorable Doom moment. I also didn't get the registered version for a while ... probably around 1997 when I finally got a job.

I cheated and noclipped through the walls/looked it up.

I wish that I could erase my memory and find all of the secrets the fun way.

I may have collectively found all the secrets during different runs, but I doubt it. My priorities are speedrun based.

Hellbent said:

Do you know about the shortcut on e1m4? I ask others not to say what it is.

I'm not sure what it is you are/might be referring to. It's quite possible that I don't. :P

2

I see no reason whatsoever to look for them. I know the shotgun secret and the courtyard one, and that's it.

Sir Nigel said:

2

I see no reason whatsoever to look for them.

sad :(

StupidBunny said:

I'm not sure what it is you are/might be referring to. It's quite possible that I don't. :P

I didn't discover it on my own; I read about it one of the threads on dw. I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed to be a shortcut, though, but done for texturing purposes which someone was clever enough to discover could be exploited (quite a leap).

Hellbent said:

I didn't discover it on my own; I read about it one of the threads on dw. I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed to be a shortcut, though, but done for texturing purposes which someone was clever enough to discover could be exploited (quite a leap).

Here's the answer, straight from The Man who mainly designed E1M4, Tom Hall: "Heeeeeeeeeee. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. :) But not sure if you can get to it.... it stops before it gets to the stairs now...so I think you'd have to get propelled backward somehow... so long ago though...

I totally forgot that this was in episode 1...man, I should play it again...yeah, like I have time..."

So... i think he *did* design it for a shortcut.

John Romero

http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/E1M4:_Command_Control_%28Doom%29

I go out of my way to get 100% secrets on just about every map I play. At this point, E1's secrets are practically automatic for me.

footman said:

I go out of my way to get 100% secrets on just about every map I play.

What if some of the secrets get sealed forever if you miss them?

printz said:

What if some of the secrets get sealed forever if you miss them?

I am currently editing a map where this happens to some of the secrets. Although I think I'm simply going to remove the secret if discovered from those sectors so to not drive the likes of footman mad.

@dragonsbrethren: good find :)

It had been a long time since I had played through E1. I made my girlfriend play through Ultimate Doom on co-op with me. I got 100% on the first few levels, but started getting sloppy around e1m6.

Ed said:

It had been a long time since I had played through E1. I made my girlfriend play through Ultimate Doom on co-op with me. I got 100% on the first few levels, but started getting sloppy around e1m6.

There are some good secrets on e1m6. :d

Dragonsbrethren said:
(the E1M4 pool jump)

I think the later conclusions by Hall/Romero may be somehow inaccurate. That particular jump essentially requires straferunning, but another Romero message (regarding E3M6) says:

"The advanced techniques of strafe-running, et al, did not come about for almost a year after DOOM's release so there was no way we could anticipate someone getting into the secret area any other way."

source: http://www.rome.ro/lee_killough/history/doomqna.shtml

So, according to that, straferunning wasn't considered. Propelling from a rocket, maybe, as Hall suggested? Probably not. The E3M6 jump was "secret exit hard" by 1993 standards. That is, possibly the hardest trick you're supposed to pull off. Still, you get invulnerability, a rocket launcher and a conveniently placed solid wall right behind you. In E1M4, the rocket launcher is in a secret area (whereafter the "shortcut" becomes almost irrelevant anyway). There is no good object for rocket jumping, and even with one (say, a monster) it would be vastly more difficult than in E3M6. In any case, it doesn't sound like something intended for a common E1 map. Heck, in 1993 even plain running was almost considered a trick. It wasn't until 1998 or so, when this straferunning jump came up in the Compet-N community. I can't imagine Hall inserting something so difficult that it took five years for hardcore gamers to discover it.

My guess is that at some point of level design a jump/walk was possible. If the platform edge or the stairs were just a bit higher, it would work without straferunning. Or maybe the ledge was longer. That's why Hall says "But not sure if you can get to it.... it stops before it gets to the stairs now..." I think the shortcut direction was ultimately made "impossible" for the final release. Maybe the ledge was left there for sneaking back to the starting side without touching the slime. Maybe they used a wider ledge first, but shrunk it back without deleting the sector. Hard to say for sure.

Option 2. I never really bothered with secrets for the most part.

GreyGhost said:

4 of course! <as if you'd believe someone who once tried to kill a soulsphere>

You don't know how long I spent trying to figure out how to kill/activate the floating eye decorations in Doom I. Holy crap that was frustrating...

Dol said:

My guess is that at some point of level design a jump/walk was possible. If the platform edge or the stairs were just a bit higher, it would work without straferunning. Or maybe the ledge was longer. That's why Hall says "But not sure if you can get to it.... it stops before it gets to the stairs now..." I think the shortcut direction was ultimately made "impossible" for the final release. Maybe the ledge was left there for sneaking back to the starting side without touching the slime. Maybe they used a wider ledge first, but shrunk it back without deleting the sector. Hard to say for sure.

That's exactly what I took it to mean too. When I edited E1M4 for Quasar's Doom 0.8 project I extended the ledge over to the steps, which is how I'm guessing it was originally designed.

printz said:

What if some of the secrets get sealed forever if you miss them?

Noclip. :D

Hellbent said:

I am currently editing a map where this happens to some of the secrets. Although I think I'm simply going to remove the secret if discovered from those sectors so to not drive the likes of footman mad.

Diabolical. :)