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SirBardCat

unique/creative wads

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There seems to be a lack of wads that really defy conventional mapping standards, and with all of the tools available now, you really are (kinda) limited to your own imagination. Some that stick out in my mind are Foreverhood, and more recently, of course, AD2. Even Pagans Run put a really unique twist on gameplay, and it was relatively simple in terms of design. Surely there are more than these...?

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Well a lot of the "experimental" wads have great ideas but turn out of be boring to play. Some are good though, like Batman Doom, Action Doom, the Ghoul series, and ZPortal.

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Deus Vult II is well worth a look if you haven't already.

The monsters and weapons are pretty much stock, but the maps and gameplay are unique.

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There are always some sentiments around here that too many wads just follow the formulas without enough deviation, and I just want everyone to remember: a conventional map can be just as enjoyable and memorable as an unconventional one, as long as it applies the formulas really well.

Besides, there are many high-quality unconventional maps if you know where to look. If there were any more, then unconventional maps would be a convention in themselves, which would be defied by making a map of a tech base on Phobos.

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There's Void, which was pretty groundbreaking stuff in terms of architecture in a Doom map. I'm also a sucker for weapon mods that make new and interesting weapons. Zharkov Goes To The Store is one of Xaser's craziest and most inventive weapon mods yet - I must give points to any mod that lets you throw your arm at people. (More points for having the Demonsphere powerup that allows you to do so, repeatedly, with both arms, at four times the rate as normal.)

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Nemark said:

I thought Cyberdreams was really fun and creative.

I second this one. But then, I don't play a lot of ZDoom stuff.

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Claustrophobia: The walls close in is pretty damn good for cutscenes, story and mind boggling scripted boss fights.

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Creaphis said:
There are always some sentiments around here that too many wads just follow the formulas without enough deviation, and I just want everyone to remember: a conventional map can be just as enjoyable and memorable as an unconventional one, as long as it applies the formulas really well.

True, and since the game in general is fun to play,* even less memorable WADs can be enjoyable. Some more memorable ones, due to being original or unique, might also not be that much fun even when they stand out because of that.

* At least to those of us who feel it is: I suppose some look for different stuff precisely because they don't like playing DOOM or DOOM II and the like.

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Impse was pretty creative and interesting, you might want to check it out. Though it's more of a non-interactive movie than anything. I'm not going to spoil what it's about, and I hope noone here does either. It's the most fun if you find out while watching it. It's surprising noone has mentioned it yet.

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QDoom - Really a great Quake-Themed set of maps with all new monsters and music. While brown Quake themed levels are common, this one is easily the best and most well executed

HACX - Doom goes Cyberpunk. It's a shame to not see more cyberpunk doom mods. Really unique, also in that this was is a commercial expansion pack.

Void - Imagine dropping acid and then playing doom and hexen at the same time

Cyberdreams - All you have is a pistol and a lotta cyberdemons

The Sky May Be - This wad is by far one of my favorite wads just due to the sheer insanity

Chex Quest 1, 2, 3 - definitely unique. Unlike TSMB, it's playable

UAC labs - a wad made by a spree killer, that's different and unique

Zen Dynamics - really the first gun mod integrated into a larger project.

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I third on Cyberdreams, I thought that wad was very creative (although theres quite a bit of trial and error involved).

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Patrick Pineda said:

QDoom - Really a great Quake-Themed set of maps with all new monsters and music. While brown Quake themed levels are common, this one is easily the best and most well executed

I wanted to take a look at this mod years ago, but last I tried it ran at about 0.02 frames per second.

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Patrick Pineda said:

QDoom[/b] - Really a great Quake-Themed set of maps with all new monsters and music. While brown Quake themed levels are common, this one is easily the best and most well executed


Sorry to hijack the thread, but I often hear a lot about quake themed maps being very common, however, the only wads that come to mind that use those textures are just about all of Tormentor's maps and Slipgate Project. Anyone mind listing some others?

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JohnnyRancid said:

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I often hear a lot about quake themed maps being very common, however, the only wads that come to mind that use those textures are just about all of Tormentor's maps and Slipgate Project. Anyone mind listing some others?

Well, I might be wrong, but I think The Darkening/The Darkening 2 took a lot of visual influence from Quake 2.

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Yeah, The Darkening E2 has a Quake 2 feel, although I think first installment is more like Quake (which counts here, anyway).

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I'm doing a zdoom episode with some maps inspired by Quake style... but it will come out next year...

L.

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Whilst there aren't too many WADs that have a totally Quake textured look to them, there must be hundreds of WADs that use at least some Quake/Quake2 textures alongside the Doom ones (and other custom)textures. It's almost to the point where they kind of feel like Doom textures but, actually, they are not and some of them are quite different and clashing in style. We've just got used to them.

Oh, and a Quake themed mod that I don't think has been mentioned...

http://www.doomworld.com/securitron/

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I know I don't turn up on here very often, but if you're looking for wads which are "different" then you may want to go here:

http://www.phobus.servegame.com/virus.html

It's got the demo for my wad Virus, which is quite different from the norm. Only three levels and a few of the monsters, weapons and pickups are featured though, as it's a demo.

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Action Doom 2 is a very unique wad and a combination of it's cell shaded graphic style and multiple paths, it seems like a whole new engine.


Eternal Doom IV's demo levels also all are creative. 3 hub levels you can go back and play in any order to have different outcomes and difficulty, 3 conventional levels that are unbelievably massive, and Espi's map 27, which is out of this world, and has some of the most unique water, and wall textures I've ever seen.

----Slightly off topic, it's been a while since EDIV has come out, but I was wondering how it's coming along map-wise and if anyone else has joined the team? - Something Rex and the people involved would only be able to answer obviously.

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Deux Vult 2 is another wad that takes the whole doom formula and throws it out the window. The hell cathedral level (sadly slowed down to a crawl on my pc) is probably one of the top 5 wads I've seen in this genre, since it is so detailed and has many hidden rooms.

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@pizzabob18: While Deus Vult II and the Eternal Doom 4 demo are definitely great wads and very impressive, I don't think they're quite what was being asked for in this thread. (Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, heh)

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