Best Memories of Classic Doom

[joepallai]

Successfully loading the starting section of my first Doom level and seeing the result for the first time; it was one of those rare life changing moments that you realize is life changing as it happened.   I was obsessed after that for almost 9 years straight.  (Some days I miss that level of focus...)

[Endless]

10 minutes ago, joepallai said:

Successfully loading the starting section of my first Doom level and seeing the result for the first time; it was one of those rare life changing moments that you realize is life changing as it happened.   I was obsessed after that for almost 9 years straight.  (Some days I miss that level of focus...)

The moment of ''Is this the power I can have?''

[snapshot]

Playing a lot of zombie horde, db zone and la worlds with a bunch people couple years ago, fun times :)

Edited June 18, 2020 by sluggard

[smeghammer]

The other comments here say it all, really.

 

Specific memories.... Hmm:

 

- Introducing the shareware version to my mates in college and seeing them go 'oh wow!'. (I'd been playing it to death ever since I got a copy on PC Gamer/PC-Zone or similar - a floppy disk!)

- getting full doom on 3FDDs and quickly figuring out playing PWADs. This led to...

- delving into massive WAD collections on aforementioned games magazines... Most were REALLY SHIT, but there are still some that hold up (corrupt priest and the three episode WADs eternity, serenity and infinity spring to mind)

 - figuring out how to use the mouse after struggling for ages with default arrow keys...

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by smeghammer : better wording

[Endless]

2 hours ago, smeghammer said:

These comments much say it all, really.

 

Specific memories.... Hmm:

 

- Introducing the shareware version to my mates in college and seeing them go 'oh wow!'. (I'd been playing it to death ever since I got a copy on PC Gamer/PC-Zone or similar - a floppy disk!)

- getting full doom on 3FDDs and quickly figuring out playing PWADs. This led to...

- delving into massive WAD collections on aforementioned games magazines... Most were REALLY SHIT, but there are still some that hold up (corrupt priest and the three episode WADs eternity, serenity and infinity spring to mind)

 - figuring out how to use the mouse after struggling for ages with default arrow keys...

 

 

 

Sometimes I forgot that Doom was originaly played with arrow keys, what a time to be alive.

[Skullhacker]

The first time I played Doom was The Ultimate Doom on MS Dos. I was in love with the game, because it was just beautiful, and I often return to the Dos version of the game just for nostalgia's sake. But my favorite memory of the game was when I finished the third episode and I began making my own maps.

[SYS]

Mine is seeing it for the first time when it came out. My friends father had installed it on their 486. We weren't supposed to be playing it because it was violent. 

 

But we did. For better or worse it made a deep impression on me. 

[Marcinski]

Blasting away with some fellow marines in coop "shotgun frenzy" against literally thousands of demons at once in a really warlike base defence atmosphere. Its something I played hours and hours and I just could not stop. If I ever in the rare scenario got bored then it was the "all out war" server which also has its treasured moments to me. Its just kinda nostalgic because its really rare to come across a highly populated frenzy or war server right now. Now the only servers that are really populated are the complex doom and master of puppet servers which get pretty boring fast in my opinion as I just cant be asked to wait in a queue just to play.

[UndeadRyker]

On 6/17/2020 at 12:26 AM, Doom_Dude said:

That day in 2003 when CodeImp revealed Doom Builder[...]

 

On 6/17/2020 at 10:43 AM, Doomkid said:

Doom Builder absolutely changed everything[...]

 

On 6/17/2020 at 11:24 AM, Phobus said:

This Doom Builder thing[...]

Doom Builder and Doom Builder 2 tutorials from @Chubzdoomer was ALL I watched back then. I remember being extremely young and just firing up YouTube and learning about how to make my very own Doom level just for fun. One day I downloaded it on my grandma's laptop and started making my very own Doom level following his tutorials and tips step by step and just being absolutely amazed. I made a YouTube account under the name of Ryker6144 (not sure what happened to it) and started sending my levels and questions directly to Chubz through the YouTube private message system that was around that the time, and I even made a crappy showcase video in Windows Movie Maker running my level with Skulltag. I remember being so excited and in awe when Chubz left a comment on my level pushing me to go further and that I'm doing a good job as a newbie. He was practically my mentor that always supported me and cheered me on. I still appreciate it to this day. The "Hey guys this is Chubz" is burned into my mind whenever I think of making a Doom level. Good times, always puts a smile on my face. :)

[Endless]

11 hours ago, UndeadRyker said:

 

 

Doom Builder and Doom Builder 2 tutorials from @Chubzdoomer was ALL I watched back then. I remember being extremely young and just firing up YouTube and learning about how to make my very own Doom level just for fun. One day I downloaded it on my grandma's laptop and started making my very own Doom level following his tutorials and tips step by step and just being absolutely amazed. I made a YouTube account under the name of Ryker6144 (not sure what happened to it) and started sending my levels and questions directly to Chubz through the YouTube private message system that was around that the time, and I even made a crappy showcase video in Windows Movie Maker running my level with Skulltag. I remember being so excited and in awe when Chubz left a comment on my level pushing me to go further and that I'm doing a good job as a newbie. He was practically my mentor that always supported me and cheered me on. I still appreciate it to this day. The "Hey guys this is Chubz" is burned into my mind whenever I think of making a Doom level. Good times, always puts a smile on my face. :)

Creating a Doom map back in the days when there wasnt that much of ''tutorials and learning by trial an error must had been quite an experience of both challenge and satisfaction. I like your story, kinda like an ''student and master''.

[ZeroTheEro]

Probably getting over the fear of what's beyond to progress.

When I was a kid the most I could remember was the end of E1M3 on HMP. I did went with ITYTD and get a little bit further. Also reading up the Doom FAQ back then would make me imagine the places they are describing.


 

[Maximum Matt]

The Doom FAQ.  I had that shit printed out.

[seed]

First time playing Doom.

 

I started with Doom 2 since that's what I had, and I'll never forget how terrifying I found the Mancubi, Specters, Shawn's Got the Shotgun, and how much I enjoyed the first 4 maps of the game, notably Underhalls, which has remained one of my favorite Doom levels up to this day.

[Endless]

1 hour ago, seed said:

First time playing Doom.

 

I started with Doom 2 since that's what I had, and I'll never forget how terrifying I found the Mancubi, Specters, Shawn's Got the Shotgun, and how much I enjoyed the first 4 maps of the game, notably Underhalls, which has remained one of my favorite Doom levels up to this day.

Having memories with a particular map is something great to have. Underhalls is so iconic I cant blame you.

 

2 hours ago, ZeroTheEro said:

Probably getting over the fear of what's beyond to progress.

When I was a kid the most I could remember was the end of E1M3 on HMP. I did went with ITYTD and get a little bit further. Also reading up the Doom FAQ back then would make me imagine the places they are describing.

Haha, I can't share that same feeling with Doom, I played this game in the earlies 2010's, buuut, I understand of damn spooky this kinda of game can get for a kid. In my case, I still can remember how fucked up I thought Unreal was when I first played it. I was like, idk, maybe 7 or 8.

 

2 hours ago, Maximum Matt said:

The Doom FAQ.  I had that shit printed out.

Lol. I used to print that kinda of stuff. I had Skyrim guides on paper back in the day, but my first memorie with ''printing'' some game related stuff was when I started playing GTA San Andreas and I printed from a ciber-cafe the iconic cheats.

[jerk-o]

Playing Deathmatch with my friends

[Endless]

2 hours ago, jerk-o said:

Playing Deathmatch with my friends

Doom DM? That's OG.

[abandoned account]

i remember i once bought a bag of doritos and then went to play a coop map with my friends, to this day that was the only time all 6 of us played doom together

[Final Verdict]

Mine was E4M1 for the same reasons listed in the OP which are surprisingly accurate, right down to the aesthetics. Thus, Ill chose some others I have fond memories of.

 

Playing Doom in co-op with my old man (father for those who are wondering) when I was 14, he was quite competent at it which was unusual because the only other game he played at the time was Dune II. He was hopelessly addicted to that. I remember him being all "get behind me son and pay attention, you might learn something" when we came up against the Cyberdemon.

 

He conveniently forgot that I played Doom all the time and this wasn't my first dance with a Cyberdemon. But he was old school, a mans man who thought The Good the Bad and the Ugly was the best movie ever made. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood were to him what every man should aspire to be. We completed Ultimate Doom together but never got around to Doom II.

 

It's all the more relevant to me now as a memory because he recently passed away. I was actually making my first bunch of maps at the time, I had just completed the first 8 level episode of my planned 4 episode megawad when I got the news. I never went any further with it, nor did I release it.

 

On a lighter note:

 

The other memory that springs to mind is similar to the above, me and my elder brother went through PSX Doom in co-op. I think he killed me more than anything else, he was overly fond of the rocket launcher and didn't seem at all concerned if I was near the point of impact.

 

Sometimes we would be creeping down a hallway with no enemies and I'd get a rocket to the backside. He would then explain this away with a "I thought I saw something move". I quickly learned not to walk in front of him and to stay well clear of clusters of demons. We did it on PSX Nightmare but the only thing difficult about it was friendly fire.

 

Not that I was any better. I had more knowledge of the maps so in levels like 'The Courtyard' I would get my retribution. I would activate the hordes, and then run into one of the rooms and listen to him getting mauled in the yard....and the screaming from his bedroom. I would also send him into inescapable nukage/lava pits by telling him there was a secret down there.

 

I always had an excuse for these misadventures like "I was thinking of the other nukage pit" or "I thought you were right behind me, how was I to know you were getting mauled by 50 demons?". Of course he never believed me because it was the same nonsense he pulled on me with rockets, just a different flavour.

 

I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be the recipient of another 'accidental' rocket package.

 

 

[Hellektronic]

Some of the best memories I have were from the shareware version of Knee Deep in the Dead, because it was so... interesting. I really wanted those two extra weapons and episodes, hah.

 

Another fond memory is the first time I played coop with ZDaemon... it was brilliant. People dying over and over and over, but nobody really cared, lol. Dying and pushing through stupid-hard enemies death after death was the entire point.

[CritterSCU]

1.Getting Doom on copied floppies from the Mormon kid across the street's dad when it came out. His dad got it from a friend. His friend turned out to be Sandy Petersen. 

2. In Jr. High School we had a really cool computer lab teacher who had installed Doom on all the computers and would let our class LAN deathmatch on Fridays as long as the whole class was doing well.  Then the Columbine Massacre happened and the school made him uninstall Doom from all of the computers.  Sad days. 

[kwc]

Playing Doom on my dad's office computer with the sound off and jazz music on the radio because it made it less scary.

[JXC]

When I was playing Doom on the GBA, my Dad saw the Caco and jokingly asked, "Is that a giant tomato with horns"?

[Tor1zo]

When i got into Doom.

 

I remember i didnt have a very powerful pc, so i could only play old games (thats where my fascination for them started :D) 

one day i was on youtube and found this video of the "Most violent Doom mod EVER!!!!!1!!1!11!" turns out it was Brutal Doom, but a reeeaaally old version of it, with a map WAD that was like Doom 2 but more "modern", with like 3d floors and such, so i downloaded it and it blew me away, i loved smearing my enemies' blood all over the floor as i shot them with my railgun, i finished all the campaign, and i was replaying it when my dad stood behind me and watched silently as i played, then he left the room.

FFW some hours later and we went to burguer king because mom wasnt home to prepare dinner, so i was there eating when he asks me: "What was that game you were playing earlier?" 

I shit my pants, i thought it was too violent for me and he would ground me, i had to say the truth.

"Doom, that 90s game but modified with more blood and weapons and stuff"

He laughed and told me about how he used to DM with his mates at work, and how he would download some unfinished or broken maps that would crash his computer, i knew right there that Doom was more than that mod i had played, i played the vanilla Doom, Doom II, Plutonia, TNT, Heretic, Hexen, etc.

Then i went to the internet and found some maps and mods to play with, until i discovered Doom Builder and started toying around with it, i finished my first level, and showed it to my dad, who downloaded GZDoom on his work pc to play and we both had a blast, i never felt this united with my dad, and is something i will never forget.

 

Another memory is when i discovered ZDaemon, me and my friend (the same one i did my DM mappack with) played on deathmatch servers all the time, and got frustrated when another person joined, and we insulted him with everything we got and in all languages we knew, we got tired and we decided to make our own server, hosting our favourite WADs, i tried running one, worked once, then never again, watched some tutorials, turns out i needed to forward ports, how did i do it? i didnt, my dad did. Two hours of pure "what do i do now?" and "is it working? ask your friend if he can join" but we got it to work and we played all of Doom and Doom II, and i have really fun memories of it.

 

EDIT: typos

[DSC]

Probably the first time I played the mini-slaughter part in Suburbs, or Go 2 It.

[Shpunk_Scrump]

finally playing some good mods on scythe 1 and 2 

[nostalgia]

I don't have really amazing stories.

 

My best memory must be when, after playing Doom I and II, I played TNT. I was amazed with the variety of levels, and in the final level I didn't knew what to do, so i just IDCLIP'd the damn thing. After seeing lowered cages with monsters, voodoo dolls, teleporters that don't kill you but actually teleports you, alternative exits and the actually final boss, John Romero, I felt confused. What is this? I looked up on internet and i figured out everything. I felt like having been redpilled, and the next logical step was downloading some wads! With plutonia and Congestion 1024 (how much I love this was is beyond understanding) I had entertainment for at least a year.

[Job]

I once circle-strafed an arachnotron as I traversed the outer perimeter in Dead Simple on PSX Doom. The timing was perfect, my controller inputs were on point, and it was satisfying; looked like a promotional demo video. 

[Archanhell]

Well, back in 2012 when I started playing DooM for the first time, on that same year I started playing Multiplayer on the ZDaemon Port.

Those times were golden and I met a myriad of awesome people, as well as a lot of WADs and even the creator of teh_base.wad which was pretty incredible for its time.

 

Later on, I started reuniting with people on a server called [LA] Space Station, there was always at least 15-30+ people there, even more, and those moments very awesome, where I also used to die a lot and was famous for that.... Kind of, I guess (?).

 

Then on 2014 I stopped having PC, and on 2016 or something I came back, seeing how everything was pretty much different, and while the servers were still alive, I stopped playing on ZDaemon and came veeeery few times just to see at least 10 or 12 players there, it felt weird and I do not know what was of them nowadays.

 

That was one of the best memories, and while back then I was not like what I am today, on many senses including "being good" at the game, I would like that server to revive someday, even if it's on Zandronum.

 

 

Talking of Zandronum, the same thing happened with the ClusterF*ck/CF Mod Community.

Back then we used to play a lot of LCA, CF and addons every day and every night, I met a lot of cool people, many of them being my friends until this day, and enjoying those moments with everyone full of salt and laughs was the best of the best, along many other mods like Zombie Horde or Who Dun It.

However, despite being good memories, later on it sloooowly became bad and sad, due to how the current status of the Mod and throughout many months it started to fill with more and more drama (Which I will not mention much), nowadays CF being a drama mine and me not playing it anymore, but I guess it was very nice while it lasted. 

[Eurisko]

Finally getting the original game on Playstation back in the 90's.

[DNSKILL5]

The first time I played the game was when I found the shareware version on my registered Heretic disc. I actually played Heretic before I played Doom, but I played that shareware so much before ever getting the full game or Doom II, which was years later when Doom 3 came out when I actually got all the games through that Doom95 collection. I have that collection as well as my registered Heretic by the way, as well as many others. I remember the Doom movie coming out soon after that and my interest in the games grew as I played them more, purchased any versions available on any console I've owned, and learned about the usermade content, the community and all the source ports. With all that time between the late 90s and now I guess I have 2 memories that I'd consider to be my best memories.

 

So I'd say the first best memory I have is when I played the shareware for the first time in the late 90s. I was used to Heretic and its fantasy world, but Doom had a gritty and much more real to me (at the time) world that I couldn't believe I was seeing on my computer. I remember having nightmares about E1M8 because it felt so real the first few times, and I still didn't have access to the rest of the game then. There really is nothing that has compared to that experience, in terms of gaming that is. I don't think I will ever get that "wowed!" again, and I'll always remember that time when I only had the shareware. 

 

My second best memory is when I learned about Skulltag and got into playing Doom online. A little while after I got the Doom95 collection is when I got into ST. It feels like only yesterday but it was already quite a long time ago. I'm not dragging on Zandronum or any of the others, but there was just something about ST that I don't think has ever felt the same since it went away. It's hard to explain, and if you didn't experience ST then it probably makes no sense to you, but I miss that time when there was much less to worry about in life, and all that mattered was being able to not suck at Doom DM. I don't think I'll ever be able to reconnect with many of those players at this point, and if only I had been smart enough at the time to record demos to look back on in the future, because all those personal ST memories are just with me now in my head. This whole era is what got me interested in making WADS of my own, which I have never publicly released much even after all these years but I do intend on fixing this as soon as possible, but that's a topic for another time.