What defines a megawad, in your opinion?

[Brandon D. Lade]

There is always a debate on what a Doom wad must contain to be considered a "megawad". Personally, I have a simple rule: It must replace 24 of the 32 non-secret maps in Doom I (3 episodes minus secret levels), and in Doom II, 20 of the 30 non-secret levels are replaced (two of the three "episodes".

What is your opinion of what defines/are the requirements for a "megawad"? And, using those requirements, what good wads meeting those requirements have come out in the last couple of years? (Since 2006, I already know of NDCP, CC3, and PL2), but are there others I am missing?

[Siggi]

A wad which replaces at least one episode, where an episode for Doom 2 is 10 levels following on from each other.

[gggmork]

They should list you in the plutonia 2 credits as official viral advertiser.

[Maes]

Being over 1 MB large. Srsly.

[myk]

Anything with two episodes or the equivalent. Exceptions can be made for less levels if the levels are particularly large. One episode is just "an episode".

If some people think an episode is a megawad, it's probably due to KDiZD, but it's an exception. If the levels are particularly large and lots of additional content is provided, it is not unreasonable to consider a single episode a megawad. A set of smaller levels is not a megawad, though.

What I'm going by is more or less a fact, rather than an opinion, as the word "megawad" was made popular through the /idgames archive, and that's what it uses, 15 or more levels:

The 'megawads' directory contains files that contain a large scale replacement of 15 or more levels, but which don't qualify for the themes/ directory. DM-only megawads are in the 'deathmatch/megawads' directory.

[Siggi]

I was only slightly off... :?

[ReFracture]

No less than 1 episode (Doom) or 10 levels (Doom II) in my opinion.

But as stated, epicness can bend the rules.

[Brandon D. Lade]

Well, interesting to note that the overall consensus is considerably less strict than the rule I made myself. I just guess the "mega" doesn't have to be quite as "mega" as I am making it out to be.

What are some quality wads from the past 5 years or so that you would consider to be megawads?

[Creaphis]

I say we avoid rigorously defining "megawad" so that no wad suffers Pluto's fate.

[GreyGhost]

What was Pluto.wad's fate? I cant find it in the archive.

[myk]

It was deleted by request of The Walt Disney Company ;p

[Lorenzo]

Well, IMO a megawad is a wad that substitutes all levels in the wad (36 in udoom and 30(32 if you consider secret levels) in doom2.

With a smaller amount of levels (10, 20...) it is just an episode.

Well, for which level the term "megawad" was coined?

[Shaikoten]

2 episodes (doom) or 16 maps (doom 2.)

[Graf Zahl]

To me a megawad is a more or less random collection of 16+ maps that are connected by an inane 'story' that makes no sense (or don't even pretend to have a story.)

I honestly can't think of something like Daedalus as a megawad even though it has enough maps in it.

[40oz]

Well there are certainly some wads that have 16 or more maps that I might not consider megawads. For some reason a wad like Cyberdreams is something I wouldn't consider a megawad. Not really sure why, I guess because it's not played the way doom was intended to be played, and so it gets it's own category.

[printz]

Anything as ambitious and large as the main game WADs, that unlike them, is all free and may be even greater, deserves to be called megawad.

[Necros20]

I usually think of a megawad as a wadfile the replaces all of or at least most of the levels in the main IWAD.

[kristus]

Full level replacements.
32maps for Doom2
27 or 36 for Doom1 respective Udoom.

[Fletcher`]

kristus said:

Full level replacements.
32maps for Doom2
27 or 36 for Doom1 respective Udoom.

Yes.
And Daedalus counts as both a megawad AND a TC.

[TomoAlien]

kristus said:

Full level replacements.
32maps for Doom2
27 or 36 for Doom1 respective Udoom.

This is a definition of megawad for me.

[myk]

Episode: level set containing a series of levels roughly the size of a DOOM episode or a DOOM II sky section.

Megawad: large WAD with many levels, clearly more than a mere episode (thus usually 2 or more episodes.) There's no indication "megawad" was ever the same as "full game replacement".

TC: Make DOOM into something else (Star Wars, Final Fantasy, Batman, a new an original concept by the author, &c)

Lorenzo said:
With a smaller amount of levels (10, 20...) it is just an episode.

You can't place 20 levels in an episode unless you use some sort of advanced engine. Which is why such WADs are megawads, they're more than just an episode and they're big :p

It's silly to say a 20 level WAD isn't a megawad because then you don't know what to call it. "Megawad" isn't some kind of achievement (although most take considerable work), it just means one's talking about a very juicy WAD, particularly in regard to the number of levels it contains.

rf` said:
And Daedalus counts as both a megawad AND a TC.

It's not a TC. It's in themes just because TeamTNT stuff has a place there. That doesn't mean it's a TC. A TC is when you try to make DOOM into something definite, not just when you add a lot of new content.

[HackNeyed]

All levels replaced or at least all playable levels replaced while skipping/omitting secret levels or Scythe 2 what with the necessary omission of level 30.

yeah something like that.

EDIT how about being a HardyWAD if it's less then full? anyway I don't know I guess I just like a better end then reaching a standard level and realizing the WAD is over. Scythe 2 may end in a box like a sick joke (I know it's not) but it ends.

[Kyka]

'Simplicity.'

Megawad?

In theory I guess it's not, but it sure has a megawad 'feel' to it.

[Torn]

Megawad:
27 or 36 levels for ultimate doom
32 levels for doom2

Episodes:
9 maps (one episode) in ultimate doom
11 maps in doom2

[GreyGhost]

Megawad - at least 2 episodes of decent maps.

[Creaphis]

Creaphis said:

I say we avoid rigorously defining "megawad" so that no wad suffers Pluto's fate.

(Pluto the former planet, doomed to mediocrity by a redefinition of terms)

[Graf Zahl]

I never, ever, thought of the term 'megawad' defining any level of quality.

It is a purely quantitative term. Some megawads are good, others are shit, some are cohererent, others are just a random collection of maps.

On the contrary - in general I find smaller mods better because they are simply much more coherent in both style and execution.

[ReFracture]

Graf Zahl said:

I never, ever, thought of the term 'megawad' defining any level of quality.

It is a purely quantitative term. Some megawads are good, others are shit, some are cohererent, others are just a random collection of maps.

On the contrary - in general I find smaller mods better because they are simply much more coherent in both style and execution.

Agreed. I would rather play 5 awesome levels with the same total amount of work put into them as 32 mediocre to average levels.

[myk]

HackNeyed said:
EDIT how about being a HardyWAD if it's less then full? anyway I don't know I guess I just like a better end then reaching a standard level and realizing the WAD is over. Scythe 2 may end in a box like a sick joke (I know it's not) but it ends.

This is tied to quality too (which with Graf I agree is not a necessary part of the definition). It just feels sloppy when it ends and there's a standard level after the last one. But imagine this situation: You make a WAD that ends in level 20, adding an optional MAPINFO lump to end it after level 20 but otherwise changes nothing in respect to how the actual levels are played or are arranged. So, what, the WAD is now a megawad when playing it under engines that support MAPINFO and not otherwise? If you read the TXT where it said "levels: 20" and end up in Nirvana after the 20th, you simply say, "ah, it's over... okay, I'll quit now". Adding a little level at the end that's a small box is just a commodity the author bothered with so newbies or whatever may not get confused about what happens after level 20.

[printz]

Creaphis said:

(Pluto the former planet, doomed to mediocrity by a redefinition of terms)

I'm rather sure you were talking about Plutonia. What's about it?