HMP shouldn't be scoffed at

[LadyMistDragon]

I mean...probably? UV does raise enemy damage dealt somewhat, but it's still not exactly so difficult in the base game. Honestly though, this makes more sense when we're discussing modern wads.

[Hitboi]

On 5/3/2022 at 5:34 AM, resle said:

Am I alone to think that HMP is the way Doom was intended to be played?

Think about this from a technical prespective, if there was only one difficulty that is the way Doom was intended to be played, then the other difficulties would be useless and therefore shouldn't exist. If the Doom gameplay was only based on HMP and other difficulties didn't exist, would you think that idea would make the game more perfect or less perfect?
 

On 5/3/2022 at 10:19 AM, Doomkid said:

Doom is an "OFFLINE GAME"?! I am HIGHLY offended by this statement! Doom was intended to be played/is the MOST FUN in Deathmatch mode, so sayeth the doomgod Romero himself (and I couldn't agree more)!!

These are some true facts, agreed.

Edited February 2, 2023 by Hitboi

[azerty]

I don't consider HMP to be 'the right way to play doom' just like UV. Play it however you want.

 

I personally prefer HMP when I playtest or play doom generally. I am far from a skilled player so it keeps me from getting frustrated. A lot of playtesters tend to play on UV so when I play on HMP that difficulty is tested as well. SO it's a win win situation for both me and the mapper looking for feedback.

That's my opinion anyway.

[DSC]

This whole "way its meant to be played" mentality that has come to invade gaming in the wake of things like Dark Souls needs to die off already. You decide how you want to play.

[sandwedge]

1 hour ago, LadyMistDragon said:

I mean...probably? UV does raise enemy damage dealt somewhat, but it's still not exactly so difficult in the base game. Honestly though, this makes more sense when we're discussing modern wads.

 

Wait, where did you get this idea from?  UV doesn't raise enemy damage, I'm pretty certain about that.  But I'll admit, for awhile I assumed that was the case just because it was harder.  I mean I guess if there are more monsters spawns technically there is more potential damage walking around... and often less health packs to mitigate said damage, so it feels like there's more damage.  First time I learned this, I had to read the difficulty wiki several times in astonishment to really confirm that there was no damage modifier at work.

[LadyMistDragon]

1 minute ago, sandwedge said:

 

Wait, where did you get this idea from?  UV doesn't raise enemy damage, I'm pretty certain about that.  But I'll admit, for awhile I assumed that was the case just because it was harder.  I mean I guess if there are more monsters spawns technically there is more potential damage walking around... and often less health packs to mitigate said damage, so it feels like there's more damage.  First time I learned this, I had to read the difficulty wiki several times in astonishment to really confirm that there was no damage modifier at work.

It was just something I saw someone else say. Personally, I never really noticed when I was initially playing Doom, but I know shotgunners have a higher chance of criting you for some incredibly nasty hits. The amount of health packs was something that didn't seem important because of how cautious i used to play

[hybridial]

What I would say of HMP and UV in Doom 1 and 2, these are the only WADs I've done both difficulties in.

 

I think the only part that benefitted was Knee Deep in the Dead, in every other instance UV just made things a drag. It's hard to make a comparison to a lot of fan wads because in those, HMP is often more difficult than UV in the original games, let alone their own UV setting. But I go to HMP hoping to get something fun and manageable. I will try HNTR if HMP is too much, that's probably the only reason I got through Plutonia 2. 

[Zulk RS]

2 hours ago, Hitboi said:

Think about this from a technical prespective, if there was only one difficulty that is the way Doom was intended to be played, then the other difficulties would be useless and therefore shouldn't exist. If the Doom gameplay was only based on HMP and other difficulties didn't exist, would you think that idea would make the game more perfect or less perfect?

 

 

I disagree with this. HMP could be the intended way to play while still having the other difficulties being necessary.  Just because HMP is the intended does not make the others unintended. In fact, I think the only difficulty that was unintended to be seriously played was Nightmare. While the Devs might have intended for you to play HMP, the other difficulties serve as fail-safes, bonus challenges and extra padding. You play on HMP, then realize it's too easy or too hard for you, you swap difficulty. Alternatively, you play through the whole game on HMP. Figure you could use a bit more challenge so you boot up the game again on UV. This will also probably give you extra game time. Nowadays, games can have 100s of hours of game content. Back then, I doubt the vast majority of the PCs would be able to run something with that much game content. Hell, Doom 1 is pretty short compared to modern PWADs (even the shorter ones) and I believe Doom needed two disks. Even if a PC could run something that had like 50 or 60 hours of gameplay, programming something of that scale on the tech available would have been a nightmare.

 

So no, HMP can be the intended way to play normally and the other difficulties still need to exist for the sake of more people being able to enjoy the game, lengthening the game time, adding challenges and replayability.

 

2 hours ago, DSC said:

This whole "way its meant to be played" mentality that has come to invade gaming in the wake of things like Dark Souls needs to die off already. You decide how you want to play.

 

Can't agree more! While it is fun to tell someone to "Get Good", as far as actual advice go, it's about as helpful as "Just Don't Die Lmao"

[Pezl]

Well, HMP is the difficulty i play the most.. 

Depends on which wad i play, if its some classics than definetly hurt me plenty, I dont consider myself pro to play on UV lol

 

I think everyone should play diffiuclty they want

[Mr Masker]

5 hours ago, Doomkid said:

Damn, I was just joking in the first post of course, but the fact that most Doomers forget multiplayer Doom is even a thing is genuinely heart breaking. (mainly because it means I have less targets in DM servers, but still.)

I think maybe it's partly because doom multiplayer isn't as centralized and "simple" as other multiplayer, if people want to play say... Halo 2 multiplayer, they just get MCC or maybe do some wierd magic with the original if they want to brag about it.

 

But with Doom there's the trio of Zandronum, Odamex and Zdaemon, which all seem to have different amounts of consistent players at different times, alongside different most popular multiplayer types. (Zandronum has alot of Mega Man Deathmatch, Zdaemon has alot of Chillax, etc) I can't really think of what I'd do to make this easier for newcomers or just players in general, but it's something to keep in mind

[Luleta]

12 hours ago, Solmyr said:

Eh, no one really scoffs at any difficulty setting and the actual intended way to play the game is to shoot at everything that isn't you, and sometimes yourself too (read: E3M6 secret exit).

 

 

so you are scoffing at pacifist players? shame on you!!!

Spoiler

jk

 

[Solmyr]

3 hours ago, Luleta said:

so you are scoffing at pacifist players? shame on you!!!

  Reveal hidden contents

jk

 

Yep, and not ashamed of that because peace is never an option when dealing with hellspawns!!!1

Besides it's impossible to finish Doom 2 and Final Doom (bar plutonia which is possible but very rare) on pacifist.

[BGreener]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:57 AM, DSC said:

This whole "way its meant to be played" mentality that has come to invade gaming in the wake of things like Dark Souls needs to die off already. You decide how you want to play.

Based on that Doomworld Casali interview, it has well preceded the “git GUD” mentality that certain modern games attempt to appeal to:

 

Quote

“Plutonia was always meant for people who had finished Doom2 on hard and were looking for a new challenge. I always played through the level I had made on hard, and if I could beat it too easily, I made it harder, so it was a challenge for me. I don't have a lot of sympathy for someone who plays Plutonia on hard skill and complains it's too hard. I had a lot of mail from people who had never even tried the easy skill setting because they "only play on hard". However, if someone does play Plutonia on easy and still finds it too hard, play Evilution through, and you should be ready to play Plutonia...“

My favorite bit is the mail he got from people who “only play on hard” complaining that it’s too hard. Absolute gold!

[aika]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:58 PM, LadyMistDragon said:

Personally, I never really noticed when I was initially playing Doom, but I know shotgunners have a higher chance of criting you for some incredibly nasty hits. The amount of health packs was something that didn't seem important because of how cautious i used to play

There's no difference at all in damage between HMP and UV.

Edited May 8, 2022 by aika

[princetontiger]

I always play HMP...  In fact, in any game, I'll always play thru on Normal difficulty. I don't want hard and I don't want easy. I want the default/"normal" experience.

[E1M10]

I only play Doom 1, but I love nightmare difficulty, and recommend it for anyone who tried it in the past and noped out. (I was the same.) It’s actually not as hard as it first appears. You just need to work out a good strategy for each map. And understand that even if monsters are respawning behind you, it doesn’t necessarily mean they can *get* to you. It took me a week or two to go from “this is BS” to actually finishing levels.

 

For example, even a pistol start on a map like E2M6, is fairly easy if you just grab all the energy cells and save your plasma rifle for the final push to the exit.

[heliumlamb]

and a lack of general skill shouldn't be scoffed at either! help others, everyone's a neophyte at some point, and that includes even the most proficent. "git gud xd" is the furthest from help, it's sickening.

[mrthejoshmon]

Using warp parameters without a -skill line or first loading up the game (especially the console versions), the default setting selected is actually Hurt me Plenty.

 

This, along with editor tags being "normal" for HMP and "hard" for UV, would further reinforce that UV is not how the game was, design wise, "intended to be played" (as ridiculous as the very idea "intended to be played" is).

 

So, even when looking at the game itself, UV is not "the intended way to play".

 

Curious, UV bros, very curious.

[Garlichead]

Whenever someone post this question on the forum the most common response is to play the game however you like. Doomworld seems to be receptive about playing the way that it is more comfortable for you. The meme that players only enjoy super hard mods seems to come from other sites such as the old Gamefaqs forums or the occasional Reddit post.

 

Difficulty levels are there for a reason. It is hard to determine what is the "canonical way" to play a game such as Doom, considering most content is user generated anyway. Design wise the game has changed quite a bit since it was released and the difficulty bar has been all over the place depending of what is trending at a given time, or who is the designing the particular wad. 

 

When I first play a wad I first give it a try on UV, if the first maps are beyond my skill but i really want to experience it further i lower the difficulty to HMP. I consider something to be beyond my skill when i get killed repeatedly on the same section or when i start to get frustrated on consequent maps. If i beat a wad on HMP and want to replay it later on, i will raise the difficulty to UV. Sometimes i realise that knowing the level and its secrets makes the run even easier as the different skills should not change the level layout, only the amount of monsters and available resources.

 

I dont like to save scum, it damages the experience a little bit as i feel there is no "risk" if i can replay a section indefinitely. I tend to save whenever i get a key or after around 5 minutes have passed, if i am replaying a wad i reduce the saves to be only at the beginning of each level. 

[Maximum Matt]

I'll say only this: E1M1 was definitely designed for HMP, as the shotgun is in a secret area, the first new weapon you find in the game.  Only imps and former humans are in E1M1 on HMP.  This of course is nullified on UV, where there's like five shotgunners to your immediate left as soon as you start, spoiling the surprise.  

 

Also, I like this:

 

[ENEMY!!!]

If I remember HMP was originally the default difficulty setting, and it makes sense, as players weren't used to that kind of "2.5D" gameplay back then, and many (myself included) started off entirely using the keyboard and arrow keys to move.  My first playthrough of Doom was on ITYTD and over the following year I went up to HMP and then UV.  With time, the original Doom campaigns became viewed as easy and so UV became accepted as the standard difficulty.  When I revisit the original campaigns (with the exception of Plutonia) I usually play on UV, but in the case of Plutonia and most modern PWADs I tend to play on HMP.

[TheSlipgateStudios]

My go-to difficulty in Doom. Have a problem with that? Wanna fight?

[Maximum Matt]

*scoffs*

[BedrockCastle]

There is no right way to play Doom. Only a wrong way.

 

That wrong way is playing with HDoom installed.

[Zulk RS]

On 12/8/2022 at 2:43 AM, BedrockCastle said:

There is no right way to play Doom. Only a wrong way.

 

That wrong way is playing with HDoom installed.

 

No There is only one right way to play Doom. And that right way is with HDoom.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

The right way to play doom is on a machine that runs it with your face turned forward.  Incorrect ways include trying to play it on a microwave, a dishwasher, on a neighbor's tv by pairing your remote to their tv and switching on doom while they're trying to watch reruns of Seinfeld, etc..

[Fluuschoen]

"We play on Ultra-Violence, the gentleman's way to play Doom." ©

 

Not sure what was the intended way for the original games (probably Hurt Me Plenty), but I know that it's Ultra-Violence for me, and won't ever drop the difficulty, not even when I shit literal bricks and my pinky hurts from the 62134th map restart. As ridiculous as it may sound, but regarding my past with FPS games and competitive approach/attitude, the concept in itself would be already kinda demeaning, so pride (what little I have, heh) won't allow it, regardless of what IWAD/PWAD I play. Doesn't matter if it's Fava Beans or Dimensions, dying over and over and over again is just a sign I have to get my shit together, there's something to be learned here gameplay-wise. Or I have better things to do than wasting away in my chair. : D

 

There's also the fact that you simply can't do some rocket jumps, if you play below UV, because you deal less splash damage to yourself, meaning no matter how perfectly you set it up, your jump will cover less distance.

 

On the other hand, everybody can play however they want, as there are no absolute rules written in stone anywhere, and this is precisely one of the main reasons why the game is still thriving after almost 30 years. Every player can find their cup of tea, the only thing that matters is you having fun, which makes you keep coming back, and the exact source of this fun is pretty much irrelevant, at least as long as we can have a community because of it.

Edited December 27, 2022 by Fluuschoen

[Andromeda]

6 hours ago, Fluuschoen said:

There's also the fact that you simply can't do some rocket jumps, if you play below UV, because you deal less splash damage to yourself, meaning no matter how perfectly you set it up, your jump will cover less distance.

This only happens on ITYTD.

[xX_Lol6_Xx]

HMP all the way, I only ramp up the difficulty when I'm 100% familiar with any given map set.

[BigBoy91]

Just play what the fuck you wanna play. lol... Why make a thread about it? There are always gonna be Doomers who have a more hardcore approach than you.