Any wads like AV?

[DSC]

As some of you might know thanks to my endless, and to be honest, quite annoying, questions on this forum, I had been playing through Alien Vendetta, and just recently finished it. Absolutely loved the wad all the way through, beginning to end. I actually like all the maps! So, if I'm not bothering anyone again, I just want a few suggestions for any similar mapset. I do know that HR and Eternal Doom inspired it, so I am also curious to play those two.

[Doomkid]

Well if you haven’t, I’d play Scythe and Memento Mori. They’re not strictly similar but they’re not too far off.

 

Here are some classic megawads worth your time that should have some appeal to fans of AV:

 

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

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/mm/mm_allup

 

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

 

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

 

 https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/pl2

 

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

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/btsx_e1

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/thtthren

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/jpcp

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/mutiny

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/d64d2

 

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/megawads/doom404

[Not Jabba]

Luckily for you, virtually every Doom map made since 2002 draws some form of inspiration from Alien Vendetta, directly or indirectly. If you want the closest experience, I'd start with Kama Sutra, which Doomkid linked above, or Resurgence, Hellbound, or Bloodstain.

 

(edit: or Vile Flesh)

[galileo31dos01]

Don't be shy to ask questions, though the Search option doesn't bite (;

 

Anyways, sure Hell Revealed and its sequel are candidates, not so sure Eternal Doom will take you where you want to. For other wads that claim to cite AV as a source of inspiration or influence:

 

Jenesis (among others, you can see AV explicitly in the latter maps, solid wad btw)

Epic 2 (same, Eternal's promo wad, and his best imo)

Deus Vult (later becoming a distinctive must-play for earlier slaughter mindset thingy)

Vae Victus (odd-duck, it's decent overall, play it in zdoom for the intended experience)

Struggle (the mapper loves AV so, you judge)

Kama Sutra (omg yes it has a vagina play it!)

Hellbound (texturing and ambiance rules, gameplay is not the standout)

Resurgence (weird and gorgeous) 

[valkiriforce]

I hope you'll consider giving Akeldama a shot somewhere down the road when we finish up what's left of it. It's still missing one map and a few new music tracks but it's not far from completion.

[Andromeda]

Hell Revealed should be first on your bucket list, as Alien Vendetta was heavily inspired by it (I'd describe it as Alien Vendetta in a rawer form). Eternal Doom might have inspired one or two maps in Alien Vendetta, but it's a completely different style of WAD.

 

The suggestions already given by other members are on point, though I'd add Speed of Doom to the list.

 

EDIT: Scythe 2 as well!

Edited October 17, 2019 by Andromeda

[seed]

Scythe & Scythe 2.

Hell Revealed duology.

Deus Vult duology.

Sunder.

Sunlust.

Resurgence.

Speed of Doom.

Kama Sutra.

Combat Shock duology.

[DSC]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I will try out HR today, and although I have heard about its extreme difficulty, at least I also remember that the first maps aren't that though, so at the very least I can warm up a little bit.

I'm also quite interested in Resurgence, since so many people recommended it.

[Andromeda]

1 hour ago, DSC said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I will try out HR today, and although I have heard about its extreme difficulty, at least I also remember that the first maps aren't that though, so at the very least I can warm up a little bit.

Hell Revealed is a bit easier than Alien Vendetta in my opinion. The first 10 levels are really easy, I'd argue that the first real hard level is MAP14, however it remains quite hard until MAP26. The levels that should probably cause more trouble are MAP14, MAP31, MAP32, MAP18, MAP23, MAP24, MAP26 and MAP30, the rest should be doable with some skill, that you probably have since you've completed Alien Vendetta on UV.

[Horus]

Map 22 of HR is pretty difficult too

[gaspe]

5 hours ago, seed said:

Scythe

Despite Erik Alm owes a lot to Alien Vendetta and he's inspired by it this suggestion sounds weird to me since Scythe take a very different direction compared to AV, almost on the opposite side I would say. Scythe 2 is more on point.

[galileo31dos01]

8 hours ago, DSC said:

I'm also quite interested in Resurgence, since so many people recommended it.

 

In case you're left thirsty for more, Speed of Doom is a smart choice, or even more logical to play it first, Resurgence came after and acts like a sequel more or less. 

[ReaperAA]

Map 32 of Eviternity is very AV like.

[DSC]

Hello again! Been playing Hell Revealed and Resurgence, and this is what I have to say about them:

-HR: first of all, the levels indeed are pretty difficult, but only towards the end. In fact, the very first ones are quite easy. And even the harder ones aren´t crazier than anything in AV, in terms of difficulty, at least. Design wise, I thought the maps were very well-made. And about the looks... I have mixed feelings. On one hand, many levels, especially the first ones, do not have much detail. That is fine and all, and I do know that HR is very old,... but still, it felt weird... The architecture is amazing, though. Overall, quite an enjoyable experience.

-Resurgence: only played through maps 1,2 and 3, and while they looked great and whre well-designed, there was something that bothered me: it is an episodic wad. I am the kind of guy that likes it more when levels are more disconnected from each other and do not follow a specific theme. It adds more variety and keeps things fresh, which is important when playing through a 32 level megawad campaign.

[3saster]

I'd say HR doesnt properly start until MAP11. The first 10 maps were very bland even by 1996 standards, MAP11 is really where the gameplay comes into force. MAP13 is also where it reaches decent looking visuals. HR influence on AV is interesting, the latter started out as a HR tribute/imitator, but the difficulty started being scaled back a bit as the scale of the maps got bigger. In that respect, AV scaled back some of the brutatility to add more exploration and detail.

 

How did you play HR btw? UV pistol starts? If you play it that way, you'll find many of the maps rely on heavy weapon restriction, and can result in being dull much of the time. MAP14, MAP15, MAP20, and MAP26 are some of the worst offenders. In that respect, AV is much better designed for pistol starts, and much more enjoyable to play that way.

 

As for the original question, I'd recommend you check out Scythe 2 next. If AV is the last classic megawad, then Scythe 2 can be considered the first modern one. You should be able to feel AV's influence on it, along with Erik Alm's own sensibilities. Scythe 2 is probably considered the most influential mapset ever, after Alien Vendetta. I warn you that starting in the fifth episode, and MAP23 in particular, there is a HUGE difficulty spike, I'd say even larger than AV MAP25. They are fantastic maps after that, but just be ready!

 

It might also be worth checking out HR2. It's similar to AV in that it had many people come together under one big leader (Jonas Feragen vs Anders Johnsen). It takes some influence from AV (especially MAP29), but surprisingly, outside of certain tribute maps, it bears little in common with its predecessor. It's very much it's own thing, so take it as an unrelated mapset, for the most part. It's worth checking out for music alone, anyway. Also, keep in mind that it's overall difficulty is considerably higher than HR's, both in average and peak difficulty (I'd say MAP32, MAP19, MAP24, and MAP29 are the hardest personally).

[Vorpal]

plutonia 2 has a fair share of maps where I agonized "I wish we had that in AV", namely the maps by gusta and pallai, although it has a fair share of maps that are slogs or just plain bad (but then again, so does AV depending on your taste).

 

or if you're a fan of AV not for the slaughter, but for the atmosphere/adventure style, I'd recommend brotherhood of ruin and its 1 map sequel

 

And the already mentioned scythes and speed of doom do share a similar place in my heart to AV, but are certainly their own things.

[DSC]

21 hours ago, 3saster said:

 

It might also be worth checking out HR2. It's similar to AV in that it had many people come together under one big leader (Jonas Feragen vs Anders Johnsen). It takes some influence from AV (especially MAP29), but surprisingly, outside of certain tribute maps, it bears little in common with its predecessor. It's very much it's own thing, so take it as an unrelated mapset, for the most part. It's worth checking out for music alone, anyway. Also, keep in mind that it's overall difficulty is considerably higher than HR's, both in average and peak difficulty (I'd say MAP32, MAP19, MAP24, and MAP29 are the hardest personally).

Thanks! I will try out HR2 in the near future.

 

21 hours ago, 3saster said:

 

As for the original question, I'd recommend you check out Scythe 2 next. If AV is the last classic megawad, then Scythe 2 can be considered the first modern one. You should be able to feel AV's influence on it, along with Erik Alm's own sensibilities. Scythe 2 is probably considered the most influential mapset ever, after Alien Vendetta. I warn you that starting in the fifth episode, and MAP23 in particular, there is a HUGE difficulty spike, I'd say even larger than AV MAP25. They are fantastic maps after that, but just be ready!

The thing is, like I said before in my thoughts about Resurgence, I don't really like it when megawads are episodic or chapter-like, which Scythe 2 is.