What are your most fun battles in Doom? (Regarding level design)

[MarkaN]

I've been searching for this certain topic (on the internet) but couldn't find anything concrete.

 

What do the best fights look like in your experience? (except slaughter maps I guess xD you're welcome to comment on that too but I'd like to see more detailed arguments:)

 

What elements do you like the most? What kind of traps seem most fun to you? What kind of level layouts are your favorites? etc.

Edited August 28 by MarkaN

[TheSlipgateStudios]

When the blue key room gets dark in E1M3 and then you have to fight imps in, that's the most memorable!

[MarkaN]

14 hours ago, TheSlipgateStudios said:

When the blue key room gets dark in E1M3 and then you have to fight imps in, that's the most memorable!

 

Ah, the classic scare :D

[Sneezy McGlassFace]

One of my all time favourites is Rush Map05, vile house. It's a pretty compact map with clever architecture and monster placement. You're moving through the same area multiple times and always facing a different set of problems, there's pillars you can use for cover but also get stuck on of you don't move cautiously. I couldn't pick just one fight because they're kinda blending together. It's a very short map I'd recommend pretty much everybody. 

The whole set of snow levels is top tier doom, and taught me a lot about movement, and resource management, without being excessively punishing. 

[kalensar]

UAC Vinur Prime Research base Redux.

 

The whole map is a banger imo.

[Steveb1000]

I enjoy chaotic, open, maps, where you can roam pretty much anywhere from the start, while desperately trying to gain a foothold.

 

 

So stuff like Dark Dome from AV, The Indomitable Mastermind from Struggle, Solidao from Ozonia and Mu Cephei from Sunlust.

[volleyvalley]

It's not a specific fight itself, but I enjoy all of Alien Vendetta's MAP25: "Demonic Hordes", from the beginning scrap, to the church fight, to the unveiling of hell itself, and the foreboding MIDI, it all feels like an big, grand adventure, an awesome spectacle that is great to play and experience.

[Gougaru]

Anything that forces you to use your movement and the arena to win. Not just mindless blasting 

[RoastDoom]

Going to echo Steveb1000 here....I'm also a fan of large, open, non-linear maps which are already packed with an army of demonic hordes trying to hunt you down! Memento Mori Map 28: City of the Unavenged and Psychedelic Eyeball's Ramp 2023 map: We Sold Our Souls For This seem to be the only examples I can think of right now. 

[erzboesewicht]

I like it when the fights make me use features of the terrain (cover, barriers to impede you to simply circlestrafe, height differences, space restrictions) to win it and give you some room to explore how you can beat it. An example is the first big fight of Plutonia MAP10, when you cross the first barrier and monsters attack you from all sides (including the starting area) with different attacks. It is also easy enough to tackle it aggressively without too high skills but not totally trivial. Or also MSCP MAP06, or Adonis MAP01/Map05.

 

I also like in general crowd management fights, but these are mostly part of slaughter-y gameplay. Another concept I very much like is high-density, chaotic incidental combat, where enemies are steadily appearing "randomly" from nowhere (UDINO E2M5, Urania MAP06).

Edited September 4 by erzboesewicht

[Fonze]

I've always had a soft spot for crowd-control situations and combat puzzles where the best way forward isn't immediately obvious. Also rockets, anything involving rockets is a win in my book. 😄💥🫠

[OniriA]

My favorite battles are the one's where I can be like..  ^{(click at your own risk)}

 

Spoiler

 

[MarkaN]

3 hours ago, OniriA said:

My favorite battles are the one's where I can be like..  ^{(click at your own risk)}

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Hahaha! Good one :D

 

Thank you all. I still gotta try some of these :)

[DoomGappy]

Ancient Aliens - Wormholee junction and Floating Arena, imo.