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Gougaru

What's a wad you went into with zero expectations, but you ended up loving it.

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Gonna channel some @Xaser and say END1, @NaturalTvventy's first work. I saw the meme about 'END1' and eventually downloaded it for later (under the folder 'that one wad Xaser likes', and once I played it, I understood. Played through END1 and END2 back to back and since then, ive gone on to play almost all of NT's work, and hes become one of my favourite wad makers, right up there with Jim Flynn and Soundblock.

 

It might be a pipe dream, but I would love an 'END3' that completes the four episode Doom, especially if it does a Chex Quest 3 and remasters END1 and 2 to NEIS-era visuals and gameplay (But E4 MUST have cheesy midis of Metallica's modern songs :p I wont except anything less!)

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I don't know if it counts since is actually game than a PWAD but Chex Quest really surprised me. At first, I was thinking that it will be a cheap ass game for kids (like almost every Cereal Prize Game), but I really enjoyed the levels and now I'm a big fan of Chex.

Also, that epic OST, I love the E1M3 and Intermission themes!

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Herr Dethnout said:

I don't know if it counts since is actually game than a PWAD but Chex Quest really surprised me. At first, I was thinking that it will be a cheap ass game for kids (like almost every Cereal Prize Game), but I really enjoyed the levels and now I'm a big fan of Chex.

Also, that epic OST, I love the E1M3 and Intermission themes!

 

 

Every year we go go without a Chex Quest community project (Community Chex? No? I'll see myself out) I die a little more.

 

I also had the same general 'how crap is this going to be' impression, but its surprisingly good, and Chex Quest 3 is perfection

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3 minutes ago, Devalaous said:

 

Every year we go go without a Chex Quest community project (Community Chex? No? I'll see myself out) I die a little more.

 

Same, we need a Chexnity Quest(?) now :(

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(Community Chex is a play on the Community Chest series)

 

Speaking of, Community Chest 1 I had no or little expectations for, given it was the only one to not win a cacoward, and had a lot of seething hatred for a lot of the maps in it. I ended up enjoying quite a bit of it, although the second half was exhausting. Now I see why the series is the trope namer for 'magnum opus syndrome'. Citadel at the Edge of Eternity, aside from having possibly the coolest level name, took me an entire day to beat.

 

I also had little expectations for DBP01, since I started playing the DBPs from much later when the group had established itself. I was quickly humbled, as I enjoyed all the maps of the original, especially Noisy Velvet's finale.

 

Most other wads off my memory came with already raised expectations due to being award winners. Playing Maximum Doom and getting through almost all of the Doom 1 section quickly taught me that theres a lot of hidden gems to be found in 'no name' products though.

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Maps that I went into with no expectations, but really enjoyed?

 

Doom Episode 1 Shareware. :D

 

Hey. It was a sleeper mapset, before it took off.

 

 

 

Also...

 

On 8/9/2022 at 4:07 PM, WARDUST said:

Recently i was playing Doom2 in Spain only
At the beginning i feel it was like a joke wad, but it isn't. I found a well made megawad with some funny fresh points

 

Thank you for the recommendation. Noted. :)

 

On 8/9/2022 at 11:38 PM, TheMagicMushroomMan said:

Hellbound. Heard more complaints than endorsements, but I think it's effective and memorable.

 

Hellbound is one of my favorite mapsets ever. Wonderful narrative driven mapset.

 

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I have to go with 2 wads. 

 

Vanguard: I loved Valiant and was part of the way into it. So I tried this one out just expecting it to be solid, but I really enjoyed a few of the maps and it's a ton of fun. Valiant is definitely the better product in terms of overall experience and amount of content, but Vanguard plays fantastically well as a string of individual maps. Plus having something a bit less demanding than Valiant's harder maps was also a really good thing for me at the time I first played it. Anyone looking for an action packed mid length wad ought to check it out. As a cacoward winner it's hardly a hidden gem, but it's definitely overlooked in favor of newer stuff these days. 

 

Plutonia: I went into it last year with the expectation that it would be a long overdue rite of passage rather than a fun experience. It turned out to be a grind at times to be sure, but really motivated me to rise to the challenge like few wads have done. By the time I'd gotten through the worst of it, it made me develop a lot of skills and I was able to appreciate other harder wads much more. It's certainly not perfect by any means, but experiencing an official wad that I'd missed for all this time was a rare treat (TNT was another story). The combat was very ahead of its time compared to the other IWADs and the style of maps were right up my alley, generally being shorter and fairly tough. Not to mention it's hugely influential and being able to catch when other maps reference it is very rewarding on its own.

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Fragport, one of the first megawads I played and the weird thing is…I just found it in my doom folder and I don’t even remember downloading it.

 

My memory of it is sketchy having last played it 12 years ago but I do remember a few mine based levels and explosion set pieces, and most importantly I remember thoroughly enjoying it. I really need to give this a second playthrough!

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Skulltiverse.

 

It was probably the thematic variation and the way almost everyone put their best foot forward but this was a great megawad of maps that don't take too long.

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Heretic, i thought that this game was literally going to be boring, but it turns out i was wrong, getting a new weapon is very satisfying, and overall level design is challenging, thats why i never got past E1M6

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Alien Vendetta. I thought it was one of those overrated megawads that only legacy members of the doom community gave a shit about, but I was quickly surprised by how fun it was, it changed my opinion real quick.

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Kama Sutra. For some reason I always thought it was one of those Hell Revealed inspired early 2000's wads with unbalanced maps and repetitive combat. I was honestly blown away. So much creativity and so many memorable maps.  

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