Level-by-level analysis of Doom

[Lüt]

Shaviro said:

It's pretty surprising, actually! I'm always shocked and horrified when I see that large room. I thought it would be small room galore all the way through!

Yeah, they leave you so unprepared. It's like showing a child a picture of a rugburn, then sending them to war.

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

as well as weapons!

LOL tehre are weapons? I thought it was only the fist :-D

[Shaviro]

Lüt said:

Yeah, they leave you so unprepared. It's like showing a child a picture of a rugburn, then sending them to war.

Perhaps that is what id software practices in spare time!

[pritch]

E1M3?

This is perhaps Phobos' creepiest level. The endless directions you can choose, those incredible secrets and that secret exit all lend themselves to the effect.

A good deal of the level is interconnected. If I'm not mistaken you can operate an elevator by the secret exit that takes you up to the ledge where the you likely shot the imp earlier when you took the North-West outdoors area out.

A prominent memory of this map is the long corridor leading to the area where you can get the Soul Sphere and also to the switch that controls the secret exit raising platform. Creatures seem to come racing down through the dark corridor ad infinitum, and you must wait patiently at the safe end before filling it with corpses and moving on through to claim the above prizes, and, let's not forget, the yellow keycard for that secret yellow area.

The eternal choice E1M3 forces you to make when you get back to the start area. Fight on through the blue area, gain the yellow area secrets, then return for the secret exit? Or just take the secret exit now and be done with it? Or negate teh secret exit because you never could stand E1M9 anyway?

E1M3: one of the best.

[Shaviro]

xooz98 said:

LOL tehre are weapons? I thought it was only the fist :-D

The fist is a weapon in itself!

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

The fist is a weapon in itself!

Actually the fist is more than a weapon. It's a state of mind...a state of being. The fist really shows the most individualism of the weapons; it's more than just the number 1! BE THE FIST

[Shaviro]

xooz98 said:

Actually the fist is more than a weapon. It's a state of mind...a state of being. The fist really shows the most individualism of the weapons; it's more than just the number 1! BE THE FIST

I think the fist is there for the purpose of telling kids not to do drugs, drunk driving and stuff like that. I'd have the fist for president, not to mention dinner!

[pritch]

If I had to choose my first area of specific interest in E1M3 it would be the aforementioned North-West outside area.

Everyone remembers their first time in the acid pit thinking they are trapped.

Of course, as we all know, the pit can be raised to floor level, but even experienced players must still face up to ambush as they emerge...

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

I think the fist is there for the purpose of telling kids not to do drugs, drunk driving and stuff like that. I'd have the fist for president, not to mention dinner!

I concur. The fist is really an honourable citizen of the doom community. Moreover, what would levels like E1M3 be without the fist gracing their presense?

[Shaviro]

pritch said:

If I had to choose my first area of specific interest in E1M3 it would be the aforementioned North-West outside area.

Everyone remembers their first time in the acid pit thinking they are trapped.

Of course, as we all know, the pit can be raised to floor level, but even experienced players must still face up to ambush as they emerge...

The surrounding monsters pose a great distraction!

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

The surrounding monsters pose a great distraction!

The real character in this scene is the imp to the upper right as you walk in. Ir really makes you think about why that imp is there. He must have some purpose in life. But what? What could it possibly be?

[Shaviro]

xooz98 said:

The real character in this scene is the imp to the upper right as you walk in. Ir really makes you think about why that imp is there. He must have some purpose in life. But what? What could it possibly be?

To kill you, perhaps!?

[pritch]

If I had to choose a second such area of interest, I would have to highlight the fantastic connection in the West of the map between an area you can walk into, kill imps, go up an elevator and gain armour, and the area containing the secret level switch. As we all know, on your way back having flicked that secret switch you pretty much jump through, and your back in that initial area. You could get a shock if you forgot to get rid of any of the numerous imps...

A great example of how to recycle an area of your map.

[Lüt]

xooz98 said:

The real character in this scene is the imp to the upper right as you walk in. Ir really makes you think about why that imp is there. He must have some purpose in life. But what? What could it possibly be?

It's obviously a supervisor of sorts. The real question is, what activity is it supervising?

[Shaviro]

pritch said:

A great example of how to recycle an area of your map.

Better write that down!

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

To kill you, perhaps!?

Ah, a deathly motive. But according to post-Lorenzian psychoanalysis, the monsters more likely to kill you would be on your level.

[Shaviro]

Lüt said:

It's obviously a supervisor of sorts. The real question is, what activity is it supervising?

"Don't let the marines take our precious nuclear waste!"?

Perhaps they are guarding the nukage.

[zxcvbnm]

Lüt said:

It's obviously a supervisor of sorts. The real question is, what activity is it supervising?

Maybe it's not a supervisor, but a sense of the Doom Guy's longing for a father figure. Maybe the imp is there only to hit the doom guy deep inside...

[Shaviro]

xooz98 said:

Maybe it's not a supervisor, but a sense of the Doom Guy's longing for a father figure. Maybe the imp is there only to hit the doom guy deep inside...

Psychological warfare? Those bastards!

[pritch]

My third area of interest must needs be the Yellow secret area. The concept of 'locking' a secret area has been copied ad infinitum since E1M3, but few mappers have bettered this first example.

The great thing is, you can think you have found that last secret in the blue area, race up those stairs and then... a yellow door! Much more subtle than placing a locked door by an exit and saying, yeah, uh, you can finish this map but look another door! This is much better, a real find. It makes you really want to go back through the map with a fine comb.

[zxcvbnm]

Shaviro said:

Psychological warfare? Those bastards!

LOL!!! Maybe the doomguy needs Therapy of Mass Destruction :-D

[pritch]

My third area of interest must needs be the Yellow secret area. The concept of 'locking' a secret area has been copied ad infinitum since E1M3, but few mappers have bettered this first example.

The great thing is, you can think you have found that last secret in the blue area, race up those stairs and then... a yellow door! Much more subtle than placing a locked door by an exit and saying, yeah, uh, you can finish this map but look another door! This is much better, a real find. It makes you really want to go back through the map with a fine comb.

[Shaviro]

xooz98 said:

LOL!!! Maybe the doomguy needs Therapy of Mass Destruction :-D

He sure needs therapy, I mean look at all the stuff he destroyed and the monsters he killed! He's a psychopath!

[pritch]

One of the great things about E1M3 is teh way it varies its usage of rectangular, 45 degree, and circular sectors.

Look at this map and appreciate the way the 45 degree area to the west complements the final blue area by running parallel to it. Believe it or not, the doomer will subconciously be aware of the great gameplay this engenders.

e1m3.jpg

[Fredrik]

Heh I like the automap look of E1M3. It's like a flower or something.

[Shaviro]

Fredrik said:

Heh I like the automap look of E1M3. It's like a flower or something.

Or a level of some kind!?

[pritch]

Let's also not forget that E1M3 was the first map to offer a glimpse of a powerup frome behind a wall or through an opening, encouraging you to discover it and play more of the map.

'Glimpses' have since then made numerous maps much more exciting to play, as you chase down a powerup you KNOW exists!

[AirRaid]

pritch said:

One of the great things about E1M3 is teh way it varies its usage of rectangular, 45 degree, and circular sectors.

Yeah, I like the way they did that. Shows real good design skills. It's a nice map to look at.

[Lüt]

Fredrik said:

Heh I like the automap look of E1M3. It's like a flower or something.

Really, I think it looks like somebody who suddenly realized they've become quite disfigured. Note the o_o expression in the upper left, clearly a young girl's head with symmetrical ponytails, looking to the right, wondering why she suddenly resembles a moon outpost. Quite a harrowing and surreal effigy indeed.

[pritch]

I would like to draw your attention to the exquisite ethereal irony that the very acid area which can kill you if you emerge even a little too hastily from the start, or fall into in the initial panic of demons etc. when you emerge, is the very same area that leads you to the ultimate reward later: the secret exit. An example of Doom juxtaposition at its best.