Your megawads recommendations

[Xerge]

Haven't really played too many, some I remember; The Darkening, The Way ID did, Plutonia 2, Caverns of Darkness, back to Saturn and that's all I remember now, so I guess those are the ones I enjoyed, if you can recommend anything similar or better I'm interested.

[scifista42]

Cacowards
Wads nominated for next Cacowards
My personal favorites: Lunatic, Jenesis, Valiant, Going Down, Pirate Doom...
(Lunatic isn't a megawad, but so isn't The Darkening and Caverns of Darkness from your list)

[T-Rex]

With megawads, I'd highly recommend Icarus: Alien Vanguard, Hell Revealed, Memento Mori 1 and 2, Requiem, Alien Vendetta, Eternal Doom, Scythe, and Kama Sutra (made by the same duo who worked on Plutonia 2), just to name a few.

[scifista42]

T-Rex said:

Kama Sutra (made by the same duo who worked on Plutonia 2)

To be clear:
1. They're 2 people out of the many people who worked on Plutonia 2, not the sole authors.
2. One of them made over 10 of the best maps in Plutonia 2, the other one just coauthored one map which happened to be mediocre.
3. The quality of each one's work is actually more equal to each other in KS, I'd say.
4. Kama Sutra is their earlier work than their Plutonia 2 maps.

[Gifty]

I'm not even a Doom 2 megawad kind of guy, but Scythe is really good.

[Spectre01]

Might as well hop on this thread. I'm looking a "hardcore" megawad in vein of Sunlust with top notch visuals and a variety of maps, with some being slaughter-based or having a large scale with slaughter-lite encounters. I've played most of the "classics" so preferably something newer. For more recent stuff I've played Speed of Doom and Resurgence which fit the style of what I'm looking for. No Deus Vult, Sunder, Italo Doom or jokewads like Chillax and other hard for the sake of being hard wads please. Also emphasis on megawad so no solo Ribbiks stuff.

[Budoka]

I see a lot of people recommending older Megawads as usual, and as far as that goes you should be careful, because those tend to shine more through their historical aura than their actual, genuine gameplay value as of 2016. Even so, there are admittedly a few pearls to be found in the old days of Doom, and I think Memento Mori II in particular has aged incredibly well.

As for me, the ones I've been finding the most impressive lately are the acclaimed Megawads of the current decade, mainly Speed of Doom, Resurgence, Going Down, Valiant, Sunlust and the like. Not so much Plutonia Revisited, but my issue there is probably more with aesthetics than anything else, so maybe you should try it anyway. There's also Back to Saturn X, but strictly speaking it's unfinished as of yet. A.L.T is very conceptual and can be utterly frustrating if you're looking for a straightforward gaming experience, but it's also around.

Anyway, none of these are fit for beginners, but really most Megawads in general are pretty hard.

EDIT: just to avoid confusion, this is a reply to the OP, not to rileymartin.

[scifista42]

rileymartin said:

Might as well hop on this thread. I'm looking a "hardcore" megawad in vein of Sunlust with top notch visuals and a variety of maps, with some being slaughter-based or having a large scale with slaughter-lite encounters. I've played most of the "classics" so preferably something newer. For more recent stuff I've played Speed of Doom and Resurgence which fit the style of what I'm looking for. No Deus Vult, Sunder, Italo Doom or jokewads like Chillax and other hard for the sake of being hard wads please. Also emphasis on megawad so no solo Ribbiks stuff.

Your demands are high and will be hard to comply to. Anyway, try Zones of Fear, Unholy Realms and Bloodstain. Going Down and Valiant might fit too, at least in some maps.

[Paul977]

I recommeand the ones I've played this year: Memento Mori 1 and 2, Requiem, Hell Revealed, Alien Vendetta, Hell Reveald 2. All of them have some memorable maps to play.

[Suitepee]

Going Down.
Winter's Fury.
NOVA: The Birth and NOVA 2.
Alien Vendetta.
Doom: The Golden Souls.

[joe-ilya]

Zone 300, traditional 100 lines, whispers of satan, 1994-tuneup, 2002 : A doom odyssey, license to ilya.

[Dav_NW]

Hellbound
Vile flesh
Flashback to Hell
Visions of Eternity
Death Tormention 3
Vae Victus 2
The Talosian Incident
Hellcore 2.0
Interception
Vanilla sky
Hadephobia
Singularity
Base Ganymede
Jenesis
Suspended in Dusk

[yakfak]

can you explain the virtue of searching deliberately for Megawads only?

edit: i'd recommend ALT and Epic 2

[Pencil of Doom]

Kama Sutra, Epic 2, Scythe and its sequel Scythe 2.

[scifista42]

yakfak said:

can you explain the virtue of searching deliberately for Megawads only?

The OP probably uses the word "megawad" as a synonym for "Doom mapset", unaware of the "official definition" that says a wad must contain at least 15 maps to be considered a MEGAwad.

[DoomzRules]

Scythe 2
Scythe 2
Scythe 2
Scythe 2

Anything Diablo-esque

Anything awesome.

=3

[Li'l devil]

1 Monster megawad, my favourite.

[Salt-Man Z]

Other goodies that haven't been mentioned (besides showing up in the Cacos lists scifista linked to):

NDCP
Reverie
The Community Chest series

[antares031]

Alien Vendetta is my all-time favorite, forever and ever.

joe-ilya said:

...license to ilya.

No offense, but I didn't know it was a megawad with 32 maps.

[Magnusblitz]

antares031 said:

No offense, but I didn't know it was a megawad with 32 maps.

If you read all the other posts in this thread you'd see that a megawad is defined as being 15+ maps. License to Ilya has 17 so it qualifies.

[antares031]

Magnusblitz said:

If you read all the other posts in this thread you'd see that a megawad is defined as being 15+ maps. License to Ilya has 17 so it qualifies.

Fair enough. I thought the megawad should include full 32 map replacements.

[Voros]

STRAIN

[Alfonzo]

The rate of mapmaking and the ease with which it's done these days has all but eroded this definition of 'megawad,' I think. I would be surprised if the layman was even aware of it without being prompted by a walking/talking encyclopaedia. It's a handy way to help divide up the more distinguished large mapsets on the /idgames archive, I suppose, but outside of that I continue to feel quite comfortable in thinking of it as a mapset replacing all - or nearly all - the levels in a select IWAD. Anything smaller is either a 'large mapset' or an episode, depending.

The terms Total Conversion and Partial Conversion have subtly changed over the years to help accommodate for this line of thinking, as well. I've never considered there to be any sort of level quota attached to those, just quietly.

[fveitsi]

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/wads-mods/70656-swift-death-challenging-megawad-on-idgames/

one of my favorites. :)

[valkiriforce]

Memento Mori
Memento Mori II
Requiem
Icarus: Alien Vanguard
Scythe
Alien Vendetta
Eternal Doom (at least check it out)
Hell Revealed
Hell Revealed II
Doom II Reloaded
Plutonia Revisited
Epic 2
Zone 300

[kuchitsu]

Marswar is like the only "serious" megawad that isn't afraid to joke around, and it does it pretty well imo. Check it out when you're tired from all these pompous wads with epic castles and 500 hours spent on each layout.

[Budoka]

kuchitsu said:

Marswar is like the only "serious" megawad that isn't afraid to joke around

Don't forget Kama Sutra.

I can't speak for the thread author, but personally throwing around lists of suggestions with zero context wouldn't do much to convince me. Truth be told, although I didn't quite do that, I feel like I should have said more about the ones I did suggest. Which is exactly what I'm going to do, here we go:

Memento Mori II - Pure old-school megawad, but with very pro-looking visuals and a lot of variety in the challenges it throws at you. There's intense action, there's brain-teasing, there's mild and reasonable platforming... everything you can think of. The thematic progression is also very consistent overall without becoming redundant, which is true of few megawads in general, much less older ones. It's certainly not easy, and it does have a few questionable quirks, like those damn secret Super Shotguns,but still, it's really impressive overall.

Speed of Doom - Famous for its top-notch level design, strong atmosphere,and excruciating difficulty. This wad builds upon a legacy of years of mapmaking and it certainly shows.

Resurgence - The sequel to Speed of Doom, with an emphasis on being under constant threat and having to dive right into the fray in order to gather the necessary supplies to fight back (though not all maps are like that). Practically every map in this one is an adrenaline rush, and usually, by the time you're "safe", there isn't much left to do anyway. Note that while there is nothing too unfair, the later levels can get quite over the top in terms of cruelty, which tends to gather polarized reactions.

Going Down - An off-beat conceptual wad by Mouldy, notable for its realism, challenge, and especially variety.

Valiant - This partial conversion makes a few gameplay changes, of the extremely rare type that can be considered actual improvements, I would even say much more so than the changes usually found in actual gameplay mods. Its author, Skillsaw is famous for his arcade-style levels: accessible, fast-paced, and full of action. They're also extremely well-crafted, to such a point that you'd think the guy is a pro developer (which, as far as I know, he isn't).

Sunlust - Beautiful abstract architecture, and some of the toughest challenge you'll ever face in a Doom wad. The monster counts are often surprisingly low for a hardcore wad, but don't trust it: the map design here is utterly devious, and there are many, many ways to fail.

Back to Saturn X - This is supposed to eventually become a triple megawad, and is entirely compatible with DOOM2.EXE, but you wouldn't know that from its ultra-modern look. It has a roster of excellent mappers behind it, so you can expect quality. Though as I said, you might want to wait for the official release and all of its scheduled improvements.

A.L.T - this meta-wad tries to turn modding into something of a higher art, communicating statements through its design, though as I said it can be incredibly annoying to actually play through.

By the way, I agree with Alfonzo...

[KneeDeepintheSludgemetal]

Don't know if already mentioned but:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/megawads/rdeimosa

I had a blast with these levels. And they look great to boot. Maybe not everyone's cup o tea, but it was one of the few I did not take time between levels to return and play again.

[Voros]

STRAIN

STRAIN includes 32 new levels, all new
music, and a complete story which carries
through the levels. It also contains
100+ new textures, and many new
baddies, weapons, graphics, and sound
effects. Yes, that's right: new
baddies and weapons!

STRAIN modifies the original Doom weapons as follows.

The marine punches quickly with both fists in succession. Both swings are boosted by the berserk powerup. Pistol fires faster. Shotgun has new graphics and fires faster. NFG replaces the plasma rifle. Its base damage is seven points higher. Psychic Blaster replaces the BFG9000. It consumes three rockets per shot, launching partially invisible projectiles at a faster rate that only cause blast damage. STRAIN makes several other core gameplay changes.

Players begin with no ammo at pistol start. Cells are capped at 50 (100 with the backpack). Megaarmor sprite is replaced and increases armor to 300 percent.
STRAIN features a number of new monsters. The most basic monsters (zombieman, shotgun guy and imp) appear unchanged, as does the arch-vile. Cacodemons, hell knights and barons of hell fire faster projectiles. The commandos have new sprites but are otherwise unchanged.

Strain Imps replace arachnotrons. They appear identical to an imp with a higher-pitched alert noise. These move incredibly fast and have slightly more hit points. Attacks begin with a brief pause, after which they throw fireballs at a steady pace. Strain Demons replace demons and are recolored to bright red.
Strain demons are significantly more durable than regular ones.
Holo-bots replace revenants. They move very slowly and fire both types of revenant missiles, which travel at a much slower pace. Holo-bots also appear in a partially invisible variety.
Dopplegangers replace lost souls. The two monster types are similar in appearance but Dopplegangers are brightly colored. They attack with a fireball before charging.
Ministers of Pain are miniature cyberdemons. They fire normal rockets but are vulnerable to blast damage.
Polydrones are flying cubes that resemble spawn cubes. They attack with the spiderdemon's chain shotgun. Their corpses are fiery wrecks that damage the player at close proximity.
Demon Lords replace mancubi. They are recolored barons / hell knights and are much tougher, being the most durable monsters in STRAIN. They attack in several barrages of five green plasma attacks.
BFG Troopers look identical to zombiemen. They attack with BFG blasts.