Why were a bunch of 90s wads contain a Doom 2 MAP07 clone?

[TheNoob_Gamer]

Title and I apologize if the question is duplicated.

[Alper002]

Basically, Doom 2's MAP07 was hardcoded to be the only map where killing all the mancubi and arachnotrons did something. Basically every mapset used this once it was found out because MAP07 was the only opportunity to do so in a mapset. Now it's the most overused map troupe and people just want it to die.

[Doomkid]

Map07 was one of the most popular deathmatch and duel maps too so it got copied 999x in the realm of multiplayer for that reason as well.

 

In addition to the reasons above, they’re extremely easy maps to make. Rarely do I find maps that I consider obvious filler, but Dead Simple clones are an exception. 

[Solmyr]

As @Alper002 said, there are monster specials hardcoded to work with map 07. When all mancubi are dead, lowers all floors with the tag 666 to it's lowest adjacent, when all arachnotrons are dead, raises all floors with the tag 667 by the same amount as the front lower texture size of an adjacent wall, if that texture is height 16, the floor will raise by the same amount.

Dead Simple is one of the most memorable maps from Doom II because of it's very simple design, effective monster placement, and those effects, however it's rather tiring seeing the same concept in most vanilla compatible megawads, for all the shit it gets TNT Evilution is an example of a 90s megawad that doesn't have a Dead Simple clone, the map sucks anyways.

[printz]

I wonder how well can this style be emulated in Doom 1 E4M8 replacements, where you have to kill many spiderdemons before a floor lowers, revealing cyberdemons!

[Maximum Matt]

I'd totally make a map on the E4M6 slot to take advantage of the tag on that one

[3saster]

MAP07 is the only map in Doom II where killing a particular monster (or set of) actually does something to the map. Hexen allowed you however you want with ACS, but that was much later. The MAP07 behaviour was hardcoded to that particular map, and Dead Simple was an extremely memorable level, so you can do the math there. My complaint is that too many maps feel obligated to use the MAP07 specials when you reach that slot, but don't really know what to do with it, so they just copy Dead Simple.

 

Some maps use the MAP07 behaviour in a creative way though. Most famous is probably Valiant, where there is a lone mancubus that must be kept alive, as if he dies a massive horde of archviles is released. Another one is Tangerine Nightmare, where there are various mancubi hidden in secrets; killing them all will open a special area on the map.

[Maximum Matt]

9 hours ago, 3saster said:

MAP07 is the only map in Doom II where killing a particular monster (or set of) actually does something to the map. 

Commander Keens can do a similar thing to a map. Okay, technically they're not 'monsters' but they do have a tag connected to them.

[Graf Zahl]

Actually, the Keen special was not hard coded to the actor. You can attach the A_KeenDie action to any monster you like through Dehacked, meaning you could do several bosses on different levels that make a door open when they die.

 

[3saster]

24 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

Actually, the Keen special was not hard coded to the actor. You can attach the A_KeenDie action to any monster you like through Dehacked, meaning you could do several bosses on different levels that make a door open when they die.

 

Ah yes, I forgot about A_KeenDie! That could be attached to any monster with DeHacked, so you could use it on arbitrary monsters. Still limited to only tag 666, so only once per level sadly. MAP07 is still the only way you can do two rounds of special actions in vanilla afaik.

[Graf Zahl]

In vanilla, yes - but what many people here forget that in MBF-compatible ports there is an A_LineEffect code pointer that can do a lot of things if used properly. So even without using an advanced port you can already get a lot of mileage out of that one, especially when combined with voodoo doll scripting.