Best Single Map WADs

[PeterMoro]

Arcadia Demade blew my mind when i played it! Right from the get-go i thought that it's professionally made. Totally nailed the Doom vibe and also nailed exploration + weapon / ammo / monster balance etc. Pretty much a 10 / 10 from me. I hadn't even played BioShock and didn't know it was from this game. 

[SP_FACE1]

Here are ten suggestions that haven't been mentioned yet:

• Fuel Devourer: large techbase with a clear visual style
• Port Glacia: icy techbase
• Mercury Rain: it's green, it rains
• Nightlife: big Tron Disco ballroom
• Dawn of Reality: realistic city map with a Ctulhu theme
• Bifrost: a hub with rainbow roads which take you to small areas with lots of monsters and six keys
• Man on the Moon: a sequel to Traveling to the Moon which was suggested here
• Boxes All the Way Down: starts like a massive e2m2, ends up as something completely different
• Waste Abandonment: nice small level with classical texturing and fun gameplay
• Plasmaplant: it's blue, it's dark and there's a grand piano somewhere

[Grazza]

Here are a few:

Rigel1.wad

Mines (Mines of Titan by Jim Flynn)

cic.wad (City in Chaos)

Grove.wad by B.P.R.D

Doomcity by Shamus Young

wtrfront.wad (Waterfront) by Scott F. Crank

 

[Catpho]

Crimson Wood (Technically released as a map for DMP16 but i like the standalone's new graphics)

Edit: Forgot to mention: if you enjoy 90s exploration stuff (with minor puzzle bits) play maps by Paul Schmitz. Everything made by rdwpa is worth a look too for modern goodness

Edited November 14, 2018 by Catpho

[wintertowns]

Dark Tide

[00_Zombie_00]

ogrelabs.wad

[Benjogami]

Oh yeah, I also wanna shoutout Shovelware Adventure!

 

It has that old school sprawl that confuses the heck out of me, but I finished it instead of quitting when I got stuck which I think speaks for its quality. :)

[Misty]

Mothership for sure. I didn't see it mentioned. 

[Pegleg]

Some other additions that I didn't see listed (in no particular order):

 

Tech Gone Bad (Doom 1 - Limit-removing)

Runaway Train (Doom 2 - ZDoom)

Axiom (Doom 2 - Boom)

Outpost 21 (Doom or Doom 2 versions, both vanilla)

Containment Area (Doom 2 - ZDoom recommended, Boom required)

Asylum of the Wretched (Doom 2)

Galaxia (Doom - vanilla - yes, the zip file comes with a bonus secret level, but it's only reachable from E1M1 through idclev and isn't essential)

Boxes All the Way Down (Doom 2 - Boom)

 

@guitardz

You could always add the list in a spoiler, so someone could see them all in one place, instead of scrolling through what could end up being several pages.

[Foodles]

Dripfeed was pretty darn good, it won a cacoward back in 2010 I think so maybe you've already played it

 

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

[Nancsi]

Aaaaand I have to take the duty for another time to promote shamelessly one the best Doom maps ever made: Redemption of the Slain

Don't worry about BD compatibility. Perfectly fine without it, a few early level ammo issues aside.

 

Also:

Tech Gone Bad

Phobos Mission Control

Arcadia Demade

 

All 4 have one in common: They were made by pros AFTER they made commercial levels to various other games. The quality in them is pretty obvious.

[D4NUK1]

The Quirky Domain is a good one to drop to play for 15 or 20 min, the ending is excelent and great use of GZDOOM tweaks for maps

[Terminus]

Seconding Jade Earth and Miasma.

The recently released Order of the Odonata is also a treat with plenty of visual candy.

[lirui1001]

Maybe this is a wonderful place to expand this playlist.

 

I created a playlist which includes all UV Max runs for single-map-wads. 

 

Playlist-single map wads UV Max runs

 

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by lirui1001

[Pegleg]

3 hours ago, Nancsi said:

Tech Gone Bad

Phobos Mission Control

 

I forgot about Phobos Mission Control. One thing I always liked about these two levels was in the text files that accompany them, in the "other files by author" section, John Romero wrote, "doom1.wad, doom.wad, doom2.wad"

 

I just got a kick out of that.

 

One thing about either of them, don't go into them expecting them to be what he would have made in 1993. That's not what they are. They are E1M4 and E1M8, using only vanilla resources, but requiring limit-removing ports because they are more of a "what Romero has learned since 1993 and is now incorporating into vanilla levels" type experience. That being said, they are still to be heartily recommended.

[VanaheimRanger]

6 hours ago, Pegleg said:

 

@guitardzYou could always add the list in a spoiler, so someone could see them all in one place, instead of scrolling through what could end up being several pages.

Ah, a good idea , not sure why I didn't think of it.  I'll get on it after patrol at work, looks like it's gonna be a lot to compile.  Maybe I'll even rank them by number of mentions or something.

[Nancsi]

13 hours ago, Pegleg said:

 

I forgot about Phobos Mission Control. One thing I always liked about these two levels was in the text files that accompany them, in the "other files by author" section, John Romero wrote, "doom1.wad, doom.wad, doom2.wad"

 

I just got a kick out of that.

 

One thing about either of them, don't go into them expecting them to be what he would have made in 1993. That's not what they are. They are E1M4 and E1M8, using only vanilla resources, but requiring limit-removing ports because they are more of a "what Romero has learned since 1993 and is now incorporating into vanilla levels" type experience. That being said, they are still to be heartily recommended.

 

Romero created maps with stock textures, unmodified enemies and weapons that have that KDITD feel, yet, they look fresh and different with some new modern philosophies injected into them. Also the genius of the guy is how he managed to create various places that clearly stay in your brain long after you finish the maps. Play them once in your life, and you will remember the likes of the computer maze or the toxic pool from E1M4b or the entire outside location from E1M8b 15 years later without even thinking about them.

[Nancsi]

Another map I haven't seen mentioned is Foursite. It even got recognition on various gaming sites for it's sheer size. But it's a great map nevertheless. The flow is mostly dynamic, there are some eyecandy, and that Lost Soul spam in the library might be one of Doom's top10 epic moments.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Nancsi

[joepallai]

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/g-i/hellrun2

 

 

[mArt1And00m3r11339]

On 11/13/2018 at 8:34 PM, bemused said:

not sure why this hasnt been mentioned yet, its amazing 

I've beaten level 1 from that WAD now.

[Yugiboy85]

The recently released map (still in beta stage afaik) by Exl:

 

Verdant Citadel

 

It's a map for the newly released version of gzdoom (according to the author, only version 4.0 and up will load this map) and man, it was a TON of fun. Beautiful to look at with the gzdoom features used in interesting ways and they actually add to the gameplay instead of being just here for the sake of having them in. The map is just the right lenght as far as runtime goes imo (takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, maybe more if you hunt for the secrets) and the gameplay is surprisingly pretty good too. 

Give this one a try, at least once. Oh yeah, it has collorgrading implemented into it (which unfortunately doesn't seem to work very well for me so I turned it off) so, for those who can have it look good, I'd say go with it :) 

 

 

[franckFRAG]

Travelling to the Moon

Man of the Moon, by Yugiboy ^

[ReaperAA]

Hurt and Verdant Citadel are two recently released excellent single map wads. Both require GZdoom and make good use its features without going overboard.

[Sotenga]

I was going to create a thread about single wads asking for recommendations for stuff to play when I just want to blow a night playing something semi-short, but this thread already exists! I should add a few more maps to not make the bump seem gratuitous... while I haven't played them yet, it seems like Remnant, Ar Luminae, and Mutabor all deserve their Cacowards. Ar Luminae almost looks like a different game!

[Rook]

Forsaken Overlook by Matt Tropiano is a very entertaining adventure-style map which deservedly won a 2013 Cacoward. 

[Dubbag]

https://www.wad-archive.com/wad/YOUR-MOM

[smeghammer]

Ahh, this kind of thread again...

 

Here are three I really rate highly:

 

Breach

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/a-c/breach

 

VRack 2

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/v-z/vrack2b

 

Firetop Mountain

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/ftmtn_v2

 

 

You might want to check this thread too. It's a mix of single- and multi-level sets, but should be plenty to choose from here.

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by smeghammer : added crosslink

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

VOID AND RAINBOW

 

An awesome map that made the list of "100 most memorable maps".

[Pixel Fiend]

More excellent new stuff:

 

Nongrato 1024

Ave Exitum

Silver Edge

Criticality

Entropy

Viscous Realms

Light Pollution

The Terraces

Thatcher's Techbase

Rust

Darkest Room

Chord3

Altitude

Night Town

Helpyourselfish

Sigma

Disciples Of Darkness

RRWARD02

Northern Powerhouse

Arcade Of The Unholy

Europa 3

Monroe's Killer

[RetroAkaMe]

I love single map wads.