What are you playing now?

[DuckReconMajor]

Megamur said:

This is why I'm wary of a lot of "must-play" MegaWADs, since "must-play" seems synonymous with "basically impossible" in a lot of cases.

If you don't mind swallowing your pride and enjoy easy gameplay, you can try god-moding through these mapsets. I godmoded through speed of doom and had a lot of fun doing it.

The above posts have inspired me to attempt AV again. I just did map07. It's pretty good so far.

[Grazza]

Or try -skill 2 (or even -skill 1). HR was designed to be quite easily "runnable" on those skill levels. More fun than using god mode, and you're at least getting a taste of the authors' intended gameplay.

[DuckReconMajor]

Some (like me) cannot play some of the harder ones, even on skill 1. In Sunder, for example, I've tried at least 10 times on skill 1 and can't even get out of the first room.

[Megamur]

Grazza said:

Or try -skill 2 (or even -skill 1). HR was designed to be quite easily "runnable" on those skill levels. More fun than using god mode, and you're at least getting a taste of the authors' intended gameplay.

I got up to Level 16 in HR on skill 2 and then I'd just had it. Then again, that was a few years ago, so maybe I'd have more success now.

[gun_psycho]

Personally, I play through any megawad (regardless of how many times I die, even in scoredoom runs which I die a lot) all the way from start to finish, secret levels included.

I played Whispers of Satan on Hardcore No-Infighting mode with the add-on pack on all the way to the bitter end... and that's the only time I'll ever do something like that. (Hell Revealed and up, forget it)

[Megamur]

gun_psycho said:

Personally, I play through any megawad (regardless of how many times I die, even in scoredoom runs which I die a lot) all the way from start to finish, secret levels included.

That's certainly always ideal, but some WADs are simply beyond my capabilities, unfortunately.

[gun_psycho]

For me, Eternal Doom was WAY beyond my tolerance for switch hunts. I couldn't get past the second map, to be honest. Armadosia's really bad with the whole switch hunt thing, too.

[tomthecrazzy]

i really liked theskymaybe which was super tough my first playthrough
the baron of hell killed me a couple of times in the star hallway

[Megamur]

gun_psycho said:

For me, Eternal Doom was WAY beyond my tolerance for switch hunts. I couldn't get past the second map, to be honest.

Probably got stuck on that switch texture that's basically a stone wall but one of the stones has an X faintly carved into it. Very devious.

[DeathevokatioN]

Whoa, I typed out this message from scratch about 3 times because my computer kept crashing. Anyway, here's a quick and half hearted reply before I go play some Speed of DooM. ;)

DuckReconMajor said:

Some (like me) cannot play some of the harder ones, even on skill 1. In Sunder, for example, I've tried at least 10 times on skill 1 and can't even get out of the first room.

Sunder is beyond my ability as well. Sometimes I wonder if it's author can even play it without cheats. :P

Grazza said:

My initial view of One Flew Over the Caco's Nest (av21) was somewhat similar, but at the time I didn't appreciate that it was that way because it was the first map of an episode (for compet-n episode runs, you start on map01, map11 or map21). If you make a point of playing it from a pistol start, then it is quite a nice map, with plenty of scope for punching, and not too badly balanced. And it is pretty.

That said, I still found it odd that when a new map24 was brought in, it was Anders Johnsen's original av25 that got the axe, and not av21. I suppose that as project leader, he felt more comfortable removing one of his own maps.

I guess for speedrunning it might be a good map to start an episodic run on, and I'm sure that it has alot of very entertaining demos recorded for it. Though my grief with it comes from runs where I play AV from start to finish, in comparison to the great maps that came before it such as Suicidal Tendencies, No Guts No Glory, Misri Halek, Overwhelming Odds, Lake Poison, and Bulls on Parade, av21 is not even half as exciting, thought provoking or as chaotic in either layout or gameplay.

I'm pretty sure that the map Anders cut instead of it was superior to it, and from the reviews I've read, apparently the map that got cut was a really fun map as well. Still need to try find a way to get hold of that map.

But next time I reach Map21 I'll pistol start it like you recommended. :)

[Birdbrain]

.

[Grazza]

DeathevokatioN said:

I'm pretty sure that the map Anders cut instead of it was superior to it, and from the reviews I've read, apparently the map that got cut was a really fun map as well. Still need to try find a way to get hold of that map.

You'll find a download link on this page, as there are demos that require the older version. The map that got axed is in the map25 slot.

[DeathevokatioN]

Thanks a lot, Grazza. :)

[aldiboronti]

Megamur said:

Probably got stuck on that switch texture that's basically a stone wall but one of the stones has an X faintly carved into it. Very devious.

Yeah, that one had me stumped until I suddenly noticed that X. It crops up a few levels later too, equally deviously. If you think the early maps are tricky though, gun_psycho,wait till you get to Map 20, Silures. Possibly the most fiendishly designed Doom map ever!

[Megamur]

Worked my way back up to Level 16 of Hell Revealed once again. (I still have no clue how to get to Level 31.) Skill 2. Only died once in this run so far. Let's see how we do!

[Lila Feuer]

Been on a Hexen spree, finished with Mage. Going to do the expansion next.

[Memfis]

Arch-Vile Jump
Got stuck on map04 because I don't know how to get in there:



Very rarely I can do this jump. Most of the time the arch-vile pushes me in the opposite direction. Any advice?

[DeathevokatioN]

Have you tried strafe sprinting? I didn't get too far on AV jump myself, neat concept, but lost interest for some reason or other.

[Memfis]

OK, I think I got the idea. The most important thing is to gain enough speed. :)

This wad is very fun for me. It is challenging from the start, and there is good variety in design and gameplay.

[valkiriforce]

Grazza said:

You'll find a download link on this page, as there are demos that require the older version. The map that got axed is in the map25 slot.

Holy cow! I just played that level and I love it. I could understand them replacing it since it wasn't quite up to par with the other maps detail-wise, but I sure had a lot of fun. Gigantic level + Abandoned Mines tribute = ultimate win.

[hex11]

I'm up to MAP29 of njdoom2. It gets much harder towards the end of that level, due to the dangerous environment and variety of monsters that attack simultaneously (have to switch weapons a lot). I got killed by a ninja revenant who snuck up behind me while fighting other monsters (Freedoom might still be missing some sounds though).

MAP28 had a dark & gloomy theme and distinctive automap layout that immediately reminded me of an old school D&D dungeon map.

[AkiraZXE]

Other than one of WildWeasel's WIP mods released elsewhere, started on No Rest for the Living. I haven't had a lot of time to play so I'm only about halfway through, but it seems pretty decent to me. I was expecting something along the lines of Maximum Doom, but was pleasantly surprised to find it decent.

[Marcaek]

Finished the DDVU rerelease, and played through a bit more of CChest. Had to skip a few levels, No Tomorrow in particular because of the lack of ammo. It's a shame because the map itself is really well made :/

Up to map16 now from the secret levels. Mount Chaos was a really neat Erebus tribute, but map32 wasn't really worth the trouble I went through to find it.

[Megamur]

Up to Map24 of Hell Revealed now. I've honestly been enjoying the previous few maps, but why oh why does it seem like every MegaWAD MUST have some "cave-type area with really tall platforms overhanging a huge sea of damaging sludge" map sort of like Map24/29 of DOOM II? I can't stand these maps. Does anyone actually like them? Is there some kind of joy to running around on thin ledges with no cover while snipers attack from all angles which causes you to fall in sludge and slowly die while searching for a teleport back up that I just don't understand?

[DeathevokatioN]

Megamur said:

Does anyone actually like them?

I do. :) It can rub me the wrong way at times, but I generally enjoy maps where the layout adds to the difficulty as well as the monsters. And this style of map is usually so few and far between that whenever I come across one it feels refreshing.

[valkiriforce]

MAP27 of Reverie is one of those type of levels, except the floor isn't damaging as it is just water, so no worries there. I just like a good, epic layout. :)

[DeathevokatioN]

valkiriforce said:

MAP27 of Reverie is one of those type of levels, except the floor isn't damaging as it is just water, so no worries there. I just like a good, epic layout. :)

Make it damaging lava. So that players aren't encouraged to camp down there, and it IS an E3 level after all. :P

[valkiriforce]

DeathevokatioN said:

Make it damaging lava. So that players aren't encouraged to camp down there, and it IS an E3 level after all. :P

I thought I'd make it water for a change and to encourage for further exploration as there is a water cave where the red key is found. Plus I figured if someone didn't do something different then every megawad would be the same. Just sayin'. :)

[DeathevokatioN]

valkiriforce said:

I thought I'd make it water for a change and to encourage for further exploration as there is a water cave where the red key is found. Plus I figured if someone didn't do something different then every megawad would be the same. Just sayin'. :)

Damaging lava + cave that the player can explore sounds nice to me. :)

[Megamur]

Sounds fantastic, valkiriforce. I fully admit, the fact that it inhibits exploration is another reason those kinds of maps suck. Why bother looking for secrets when you'll probably just end up getting your legs burnt off?