map07 in megawads

[qoncept]

Since I've started playing through megawads after all these years, I've noticed that most of them tend to do something reminiscent or at least in reference to Dead Simple. Many area arena battles, many do some sort of word play in the name, etc. Which megawads have the best map07?

[Tristan]

This one, of course :3 At least it will be when the megawad is finished

In all seriousness though, the only Map07 of a megawad I've played is Alien Vendetta. That was clearly a Dead Simple tribute. Nice map, couldn't work out how to get out of it though >:(

[ComicMischief]

I loved Plutonia Revisited's MAP07. That's all I can bring to mind, there seems not to be too much that can be done with the format.

Although in my own WAD, I'm going to give it a damn good try. ;)

[Gez]

Personally, I prefer when a map set doesn't feel like it has to make a Dead Simple clone in the MAP07 slot. "Here's a bunch of fat demons! Wow, you killed them all? Well, here's a bunch of brain spiders! Wee!" So predictable. Close the MAP06 end text, start new map, see a supershotgun and a mancubus, you already know the rest of the map.

[Memfis]

Yeah, the best map07 is the one that doesn't use tags 666/667 at all. It's a boring concept and it's already been done in 1994, so do something different please. Like, I don't know, a fun map.

[ComicMischief]

To be honest, I'd love to see the tag 666/667 thing used in a way that looks scripted (but isn't, and works on Vanilla). Like a setpiece that doesn't dominate the entire level.

[Tristan]

Disclaimer for In Name Only

I had to make mine simple. Tag 666 was about as simple as it gets.

(angry mob appears at my house)

[Nomad]

Now I feel compelled to make a Map07 that uses the tags but doesn't feel like a Map07 map.

[Khorus]

I'd like to think Speedy Shit does it a little differently than usual.

[valkiriforce]

Memfis said:

Yeah, the best map07 is the one that doesn't use tags 666/667 at all.

I don't think it's wrong to use those tags at all, I just think the level needs to bear some originality. I really like the way it was used in The Interdiction Zone. Nothing about that map feels like a MAP07 clone, but it still makes good use of the tags. I did so as well with my last effort Eternally Yours.

[DooMer 4ever]

I've long had an idea of a map that would be cut in half. The other half would have a a bunch of arachnotrons to kill, the other one mancubi, BUT so that there would be a lot of other monsters and only a limited number of the two. All of the arachnotrons and mancubi would be placed in a hard to reach or a hidden place (though not as hidden as secret areas usually are). Once each of those monsters would be killed, the way to enter the ending battle would open at the center of the map. Name of the map would be Monster Safari or something like that. I'm sure I will never get around to doing it though. Could be interesting for speedrunners to play for UV-speed as well.

[termrork]

got 8 map07 in megawads in my mind, my prefered one: doom2 map07

[Dragonsbrethren]

Memfis said:

Yeah, the best map07 is the one that doesn't use tags 666/667 at all. It's a boring concept and it's already been done in 1994, so do something different please. Like, I don't know, a fun map.

Implying MAP07 clones aren't fun.

[exp(x)]

I enjoy MAP07 clones a lot more than MAP30 clones.

[gemini09]

I think HR2 has one of the best map07s.

[Snakes]

I tried to use the 666 tag in a different way when I slapped my Map07 together. Instead of being a simple clone, the mancubus battle happened in a small room and was part of a much larger map.

There are still ways to use this tag effectively, IMO, but the original Map07 was so much damn fun that, I don't know, people tend to use it traditionally rather than break the mold. Scythe X Map07 was a decent example of a way it can be used.

667 is also one that has its uses, but I haven't really tried exploring it yet.

[Xaser]

ComicMischief said:

I loved Plutonia Revisited's MAP07.

Seconded. It works nicely in that it's a totally different creature you have to fight. Bit limited, but it's the best use of the tag I've seen.

[dew]

exp(x) said:

I enjoy MAP07 clones a lot more than MAP30 clones.

agreed, IOS maps are bound to suck (rare exceptions aside), dead simple clones are often quite inventive, challenging or just fun.

memorable map07's:
- TVR!: no 666/667 tags at all. cool cliff
- ksutra: the manco amphitheatre is brilliant
- cchest 2 & 3: both massive cool techbases with a sexy and challenging map07 arena at the end
- mm 1 & 2: basically the same deal, although the mm maze is a true classic
- equinox: definitely not your typical 07
- hr: spiders! 07 reinvented with almost no effort, heh
- scythe: 1 second, ha ha
- vae victus 2: uses 666 for a minor room trap, otherwise it's a stylish hell map/wad finale
- vader's btsx map, it rocks. don't ask.

[SFoZ911]

CC3 map07 has a nice boss fight with Arch&Mancu after a pretty long techbase map.

[Obsidian]

dew said:

- scythe: 1 second, ha ha

I felt slightly let down when I saw that one. If it's going to be a clone, at least make it interesting. :(

[hex11]

I actually don't mind if MAP07 is inspired from the original. The one in njdoom2.wad is pretty good, for example. But if it's just the same exact monsters without mixing it up a little, then that's boring.

Also liked Congestion 384's MAP07. :-)

[Demon_Collector]

I enjoyed map 7 from Scythe I and II and from Jenesis. But i'm quite over these typical map 7 mancubus' and arachnotron cliches.

[Daiyu_Xiaoxiang]

Map07 of HR2 is fun, but quite hard I can say. It also got a nice music.

[Terminus]

My favorite map07 would have to be cchest 2's.
The "remake" is just a part of the map, near the end, not even the finale, and it's not all that generic either. The map itself is a giant techbase with a gate leading to a marble-hell landscape.

Definitely a beasty map you should try out.

[dobu gabu maru]

Seconding MAP07 from Community Chest 2. It was one of the few MAP07's where I completely forgot about the inherent mechanics of the level and loved how it was utilized. Snakes' Unholy Realms also does this well too, although it's not officially released yet.

[General Rainbow Bacon]

I did have an idea to make an IOS level on map 07 where each room/fight gets filled with monsters from boss spawners that you cannot kill. The first fight having some set monsters and then one IOS, then two, then 3, etc. But after you kill all the mancubi and arachnotrons, the real IOS is revealed and you can destroy it.