Wads to beat for reconigion aka Doom Honorific Titles 2022

[xvertigox]

I've been thinking recently that I'd like to record some demos and submit them to DSDA but not for speed, rather to show 'yes, I can beat this wad'. It's similar, in a way, to Decino's playthrough videos but more accurately I'm trying to recapture some of the essence of The Doom Honorific Titles (wiki link here). To be honest, I really love the idea of DHT, the thought of being challenged to complete a random* wad to prove yourself. It really feels like an early internet idea, I wish that it would be resurrected by someone.

 

In any case, the reason for this thread is to ask people which maps they would consider as 'trophy' maps. Maps to beat and record a demo because to be able to beat it, without saving, is a legitimate achievement. I've got a thread that can be used as a hard wad list but that looks more entire wads rather than specific maps. It's necessary to be more granular because "sunder" isn't as approachable or useful as a goal as "sunder map 17".

 

I'll get the ball rolling, Scythe map24: Hatred. I specifically chose this map because it is definitely not the hardest map I've ever played or beaten but I remember when I was really starting to knuckle down with Doom in my teens (Scythe released in 2003 when I was 14) Scythe was one of the first wads I wanted to tick off the list as having completed without saves and Hatred was a very daunting map to beat. It's not extremely difficult once you pick apart the combat puzzle but it does require good execution (don't blow yourself up with the revs) and understanding of Doom to beat. I think UV Maxing (UV, all kills, all secrets) but without rushing/worrying about time is what's required for the demo.

 

I'm curious to see which maps people come up with and I'm also curious if demos like this are common?

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by xvertigox

[Meowgi]

After re-watching Karl Jobst's video on the history of the Doom 2 UV Speed D2All, I was thinking the Honorific Titles should make a comeback as well!

 

My suggestions:

"Honorary Frog" - Completion of Frog & Toad MAP10

"Real Sunluster" - UV Max of Sunlust MAP28

 

[4shockblast]

Speaking to the demo part of this question, the DSDA historically has been very open to a variety of demos of different speeds, but at least lately, some limits and soft guidelines exist for when something should or shouldn't go on. In particular, I think challenge runs are typically eligible, although if such posting transforms into something more akin to spam, it starts to be discouraged. It's hard to really set precise guidelines here because the mix between the desire to archive as many demos as possible with the fact that the archive is primarily intended for speed demos, as the name implies, doesn't lend itself well to accurate wording. :P In particular, it would be extreme to completely stop accepting PBs, and yet determining whether a run is too slow for the archive is also tricky, because who's really to say what is or isn't too slow. In general, use your best judgment; if you perform challenge runs of some sort, the soft guidelines can be summarized as the following:

1. Ideally, aim to be somewhat speedy or at least clean (so, preferably not stuff like pistoling stuff for no reason for example, or waiting around for 10 minutes). For runs with no previous record, this is much more lenient; pretty much any table filler is accepted regardless of quality since such runs have inherent value of at minimum demonstrating how someone may complete a map at all. That said, even for table fillers, please do not submit FDA-style demos for example either (i.e., first time you ever played the map). The exception would be is if your FDA is somehow actually really fast (theoretically possible for simpler maps with obvious progression), but in most cases, it's not meant for DSDA.
2. As the inherent challenge of a run increases, these guidelines are also increasing. So for example, Scythe map 24 is relatively "easy" by today's standards, so a demo that completes it in 20 minutes or something may not be eligible for DSDA, but something like Doom 2 D2ALL NM is pretty much always accepted regardless of speed (hard Tysons, extremely hard maps like Dimensions/etc. are similar). Don't let this take away from any achievement of yours of course!

All normal submission rules also apply; please try to use the right compatibility settings, don't die during the demo recording, use the currently accepted ruleset for whatever category you are running, etc. Whereas challenge runs are often run with sprite fix wads and similar quality-of-life features, these are not accepted for DSDA, so keep that in mind as well (the rules are still being decided for minor fixes like plasma gun sound firing reduction, etc., but until there's official patches to use, do not use these either). Even if your demo doesn't seem like something that belongs on DSDA, don't let that take away from your achievement either! If it was a challenge you personally set and completed, it requires determination and effort on your part, and that's always impressive. Just keep in mind that the underlying goal behind DSDA is primarily for speed demos, so demos that are non-speedy are always going to be secondary in priority.

 

In general, I've found that most players performing such challenge runs, like decino, David Asaad, etc., do not submit all of their runs to DSDA, only a selection of them or none. Obviously, that doesn't take away from the impressiveness of their achievements, and there's a wide audience of people on YouTube interested in such runs, regardless of whether they are on DSDA. :) A DHT equivalent that attempts to fill this niche would certainly be cool to see, although managing demo submissions is time-consuming work, so at least there's no plans for DSDA to do this anytime soon. An FDA archive would be similarly cool.

 

Anyway, WRT the titles, perhaps they can be time-based too? :) Taking Run from It as an example:

• 29s: Speedrunner
• 28s: Light Speed Runner
• 27s: Ridiculous Speed Runner
• 26s: Ludicrous Speed Runner
• 25s: Plaid Speed Runner

[Cilian]

On 1/4/2022 at 1:16 AM, xvertigox said:

I'll get the ball rolling, Scythe map24: Hatred. I specifically chose this map because it is definitely not the hardest map I've ever played or beaten but I remember when I was really starting to knuckle down with Doom in my teens (Scythe released in 2003 when I was 14) Scythe was one of the first wads I wanted to tick off the list as having completed without saves and Hatred was a very daunting map to beat. It's not extremely difficult once you pick apart the combat puzzle but it does require good execution (don't blow yourself up with the revs) and understanding of Doom to beat.

Oh, hatred was such a nightmare for me. I gave up trying to beat it without saves so I was saving between each revenant wave and after that map I decided that scythe is too hard for me at the moment