Sneaky sergeant in E1M1

[scifista42]

When entering the E1M1 computer room on UV, I typically kill the sergeant and 2 zombiemen in front of me, then the 2 sergeants on the left and on the right, then proceed forward to get their guns and the armor bonuses. Then I'm about to walk around the COMPTILE structure to kill the deaf shotgunguy lurking behind it. But, there is one more shotgunguy in the following corridor to the zigzag room, who already previously woke up while I was picking up a shotgun from the right dead sergeant. This awaken sergeant would walk around the COMPTILE structure from a direction that I wouldn't expect, and ambush me in my back. Surprisingly often, I kill the sergeant behind the COMPTILE structure and then run around the whole structure to find out that the awaken sergeant walked around it unnoticed by me. Sometimes I walk around the structure from the left, and he walks around it from the right, and sometimes it's exactly the other way around.

Am I the only one who keeps experiencing this while playing E1M1? I have read the Doom 1 DWMC thread and I haven't seen anyone mentioning it, yet it happens to me often. Is it my standardized playstyle / bad luck? Or just nobody finds it worth mentioning?

[Maes]

Well, seems you just found anothe subtle thing that makes Doom so awesome ;-)

[VGamingJunkie]

Ambushes are quite common in this game.

[Memfis]

First we were looking for some janitor that worked at id 20 years ago, now we're down to discussing a specific monster in one of the maps. I can't imagine what's next.

[Jaxxoon R]

We start squinting at the automaps until they form pictures, like clouds.

[Deleted_Account]

Did you know the monsters can snipe you from the zig zag room while you're in the start room? Omg this game still inspires 20 years later.

[Doomkid]

Yo Doomworld, Imma let you finish, but Icon of Sin is one of the best boss battles of all time! ALL TIME!

[nxGangrel]

I've never encountered this in E1M1. What direction do you move around the structure in the tech room? I'm assuming on the right(from the door/entrance). When I play the level, it's normally on the left.

So I would assume it just you. (or for others who play like you)

[axdoomer]

scifista42 said:

Am I the only one who keeps experiencing this while playing E1M1?

It happened to me several times and on nightmare, he has the time to shoot me while I kill the other sergeant. Their shotguns reload faster.

[Deleted_Account]

You should make a video of you running around the COMPTILE structure with the sergeant chasing after you, with the Benny Hill theme song playing. It would be most comedic!

[Quasar]

Memfis said:

First we were looking for some janitor that worked at id 20 years ago, now we're down to discussing a specific monster in one of the maps. I can't imagine what's next.

To be fair, it was tech support, not "janitor." :P

[Buckshot]

Quasar said:

To be fair, it was tech support, not "janitor." :P

You mean a "master of the custodial arts"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxD8SLyOCHE

[fabian]

Memfis said:

now we're down to discussing a specific monster in one of the maps.

I find it sad that he is just "a specific monster" to you. His name is George.

[Maes]

No, Memfis, the janitor was Doomguy.

[geekmarine]

Haven't we already had discussions about specific monsters in one map? I mean, I may be mistaken, but I think there's been plenty of discussion about the shotgun guy stuck in the wall of MAP02. I will say, if we haven't though, we should, because it never stops being entertaining to me. Poor bastard, stuck in a wall with a barrel next to him - so fun to blow him up.

[scifista42]

geekmarine said:

Haven't we already had discussions about specific monsters in one map?

Icon of Sin comes to mind...

[Maes]

I guess the next step now will be strategy guides focusing on specific monsters in specific maps, and even on specific difficulty settings.

After that, the pros/cons of activating walk linedefs and switches from specific angles and positions will be debated.

[Deleted_Account]

What's the best method of dispatching the imps in E1M1 on that perch in the zig-zag room? Do you gingerly pepper them from down below with your pistol, or do you lower it down first and get right up in their grill? 20 years later and this game is so versatile!

[kb1]

scifista42 said:

... I kill the sergeant behind the COMPTILE structure and then run around the whole structure to find out that the awaken sergeant walked around it unnoticed by me...

Wow, some crappy responses in this thread :)

Yep, this happens to me quite often, enough so where, yes, I think about that specific shotgun guy now, and look for him. I pretty much work the room, and then this guy takes a chunk of my health before I can mow him down. I'd say 25-50% of the time.

Glad to know someone else OCDs at the same things I do at times :)

[Hoodie]

I always thought it was either intentional that the Shotgun Guy would move erratically, or that it was just bad game design.

I mean...people make mistakes.

[Clonehunter]

I would argue that it's good game design, as it can make various playthroughs different.

[Hoodie]

Yeah I like to believe it's good game design, it's just it might not be. I wouldn't know.

[geekmarine]

Piper Maru said:

What's the best method of dispatching the imps in E1M1 on that perch in the zig-zag room? Do you gingerly pepper them from down below with your pistol, or do you lower it down first and get right up in their grill? 20 years later and this game is so versatile!

I always just shoot the bastards with my pistol while they're still up on the platform. It's so rewarding to have them come falling forward off the platform into the sludge. I know it's silly, but that's one of the things I've always loved about the Doom engine - how enemies sometimes come flying forward after being killed on a high-up ledge.

[Xeriphas1994]

Apparently, the sergeant in the tunnel secret can also be sneaky and enter the courtyard.