Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
invictius

What are some wads that play like commercial iwads?

Recommended Posts

For some reason, even when playing TeamTNT's megawads, I can't shake the feeling that it isn't a commercialy released iwad. (Maybe the exit signs in Icarus stuck out as not looking quite right or something). Classic megawads with hud replacements and weapons just don't feel as polished as the commercial wads - maybe I've just been spoilt by the 21st century.

Share this post


Link to post

TeamTNT's work has always felt "semi-professional" to me. Initially, TNT and Plutonia weren't even meant to be commercial IWADs, they were bought by id.

On topic, I don't quite understand what kind of wads are you looking for here. Any wads with high polish? Any wads with "professional feel"? Any wads in the style of commercial IWADs?

Share this post


Link to post
scifista42 said:

TeamTNT's work has always felt "semi-professional" to me. Initially, TNT and Plutonia weren't even meant to be commercial IWADs, they were bought by id.

On topic, I don't quite understand what kind of wads are you looking for here. Any wads with high polish? Any wads with "professional feel"? Any wads in the style of commercial IWADs?


Maybe a couple examples of all three? Although projects such as D2TWID didn't feel professional or with polish to me. Maybe because I was expecting it to re-capture the first time I played Doom 2. One thing I notice about the commercial iwads, at least compared to pwads, the level names usually are at least vaguely descriptive of features in the map.

Share this post


Link to post

I don't think many levels recreate the level of what I call "activity" in the original maps - stuff like riding lifts and hitting sequences of buttons is super dense in the IWADs, just think about The Crusher or Tenements... that sort of set-piece-but-not-arena-battle set up is really, really rare in player made WADs for whatever reason!

this is a weird suggestion, but have you played Batman Doom?

Share this post


Link to post

I think i know the feeling you have, and usually it's a feeling associated with playing a wad that isn't easy to get. As in it's not in an easily accessible download link, for TNT you had to pay for it. I felt this same feeling while playing Perdition's Gate, and Hell to Pay, because their download links aren't legally allowed to be shared here, and at the time I wanted it, I had to sift through pages and pages of google searches to finally find it. I also felt it when playing STRAIN and Obituary, because they come in their own horribly obsolete installation packages, and the Odessa series has been lost for a loooooong time, and the complete package was shared not too too long ago, which helped give that feeling of exclusivity.

This is actually kinda tempting, for a future wad release, to instead of giving a link to the download, provide some kind of a scavenger hunt of sorts to get to the link, to build the anticipation for the player. Downloads now only take a few seconds to get something thats over 50MB. It certainly makes it feel worthless despite the amount of time put into creating something like that.

Share this post


Link to post

Lol, I also was considering releasing a hard-to-get wad at some point. Don't post on any major Doom sites, just release silently somewhere, maybe host on a ZDaemon server for a short period of time. Or even put it in a passworded archive and give some vague clues. Fun ideas.

Share this post


Link to post
joe-ilya said:

The BTSX series.

Hmm... there's an idea. BTSX Episode 2 Episode One...

Share this post


Link to post
invictius said:

Classic megawads with hud replacements and weapons just don't feel as polished as the commercial wads - maybe I've just been spoilt by the 21st century.

A lot of the "classic" WADs may not feel polished enough, but a lot of the contemporary ones feel too polished: BTSX E1 is amazing, but it's so extremely polished that it has a completely different feel to it. The IWADs manage to have a "we know what we're doing" professionalism that many older WADs lack, but still retain the quirks and bugs and misalignments that modern WADs have smoothed away.

Share this post


Link to post

ConC.E.R.Ned has generic yet unified visual and gameplay style to a great extent which almost feels like it's a commercial game, at least to me. Maybe you will get the same feeling. Or not.

Jenesis is even better at inducing that feeling to me.

Share this post


Link to post

I was going to say STRAIN. It adds a bunch of really well-designed enemies and weapons and the story follows from Doom II. Heck, the readme even sells it as "a true successor to DOOM II." But if you're looking for something polished, STRAIN definitely ain't that.

Share this post


Link to post
DMGUYDZ64 said:

Wasn't "action2.wad" a commercial iwad years ago ?


It's detected as an IWAD by source ports but I'm not sure if it was actually sold as a game.

Share this post


Link to post

Action Doom 2 is a standalone IWAD. It is actually listed among Commercial PWADs doomwiki category. The official website allows you to download the wad + extra content for free, and provides a link to buy the soundtrack on bandcamp - but it was also possible to buy a boxed version! (source) (with the extra content / bonus maps, which apparently weren't available for free download back then)

Share this post


Link to post
40oz said:

I think i know the feeling you have, and usually it's a feeling associated with playing a wad that isn't easy to get.


Wasn't really like that for me. I got the collection with all wads on a cd (I had legal copies of doom 1 and 2 beforehand) and apart from the first few pwads I played, nothing felt iwad-like.

What grates me with pwads beyond about '95 or so is that they don't ease you gently into the gameplay. First level of doom had no keys, second had one key, etc. The switch hunts got gradually harder, rather than "where on earth do I go now" after the first 2 or 3 maps of a megawad. Also, you weren't able to get every weapon available within the first 8 maps. Same for enemies. I'd like a pwad that plays more like that, though at a guess I'm bettwing kdizd and d2twid are like that.

Share this post


Link to post

By MAP08 in Doom II you can have every weapon and see every regular monster barring the arch vile, which debuts only 3 levels later. MAP09 also has quite cryptic progression for the first episode.

For me it's more like level lengths and engine tricks. The absence of hacky engine tricks and shorter levels feel more commercial to me.

Share this post


Link to post
invictius said:

What grates me with pwads beyond about '95 or so is that they don't ease you gently into the gameplay. First level of doom had no keys, second had one key, etc. The switch hunts got gradually harder, rather than "where on earth do I go now" after the first 2 or 3 maps of a megawad. Also, you weren't able to get every weapon available within the first 8 maps. Same for enemies. I'd like a pwad that plays more like that, though at a guess I'm bettwing kdizd and d2twid are like that.

Players of custom maps don't need slow introductions anymore, because they already know the game mechanics/monsters/weapons/strategies, and they simply want to play for fun. PWADs rightfully accustomize to that fact, instead of pretending like if the player has never played a Doom game before. If they (the PWADs) do, it feels boring. If they don't, it doesn't feel like a "commercial professional game". Here is the issue.

Share this post


Link to post

^ that's why I recommended Batman Doom - it actually goes through the process of reintroducing all its enemies!

Share this post


Link to post
Tarnsman said:

There are hacky engine tricks in the IWADs


In Plutonia/TNT, which although they are commercial IWADs they are a grey area in as far as this topic goes.

Share this post


Link to post

^That's a legit, but rather weak "hacky engine trick", to be honest - it's just a missing texture (the one above the exit pyramid) for the sake of an effect which is a little surreal and a little ugly.

Some Doom 1 and Doom 2 maps also have passable midtextures, that would also qualify as an "engine trick". But not in the extent of instant moving floors, invisible walls, illusio pits, fake bridges and other typical hacky engine tricks.

Share this post


Link to post

Well in Doom 1 and Doom 2 they didn't need engine hacks because they'd just ask for something coded in to match it. See "Raise by 512" or all the other 1 time use things that make very little sense outside of the context of 1 usage.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×