What is a list of some of the best deathmatch wads?

[Egyptian Guardian]

Greetings, Doomworld Members. I have noticed that there is a sheer abundance of Deathmatch wads scattered all over the /idgames archive, and on the Zandronum/Zdaemon servers. I have also noticed that there is no particular thread on here that addresses the greatest deathmatch wads of all time. This is the purpose of this thread. I may also create a thread dedicated to the best CTF wads out there.

Based on your opinion, what are the best wads for death matching? Please write a description of why they are good, such as balance, architecture, size, and favor.

[Wereknight]

DWANGO. Just.

Or some of 32-in-24 mappack issues. Take your pick.

[Doomkid]

Dwango5/6/12 - Like the IWADs of deathmatch. Some maps are lackluster but many are very fun. Generally good for 4-8 players. (There are about 50 good Dwango maps in total, I compiled them all into one easy wad here.)

Classix - Compilation of the mancerx and danzig wad series. Very oldschool, balanced around 4 players.

lazarus1j - Newschool DM with great detail, well balanced for 4-6 players.

udm3 - solid, well balanced maps that look clean, but not over detailed. 4-8 players.

udmX - More NS than udm3. Great visuals and gameplay. 4-8 players, though some could support 10.

brit10 / brit11 / exec.wad - BFG spam maps. Way fun for 4 players and teaches you how to evade like a champ! (Compiled here, 30 maps total)

cybercrime series - Changed guns, awesome computer/sci-fi theme going on. Good for up to 10. (There are different versions for ZDaemon and Zan, someone might be able to provide easy links to them all.)

greenwar - Oldschool DM. Not much to look at, but perfect balance for about 6 players.

gw2 - Nothing like greenwar 1, but still fun for 4 players. Maps are too cramped, but still enjoyable.

FastDM - True to it's name. Visuals are OS, but gameplay feels fast and modern.

EonDM - A good mix of NS and OS style.

Many 32in24 wads (especially after 32in24:10)

DBAB (Don't be a bitch) series - for LMS or FFA, large maps that are amazing visually and fun to play. Up to 10 players easily.

I have also made quite a few DM wads which you can find here. There's loads of great DM turf out there, I'm forgetting a bunch at the moment but I'm sure someone can expand the list!

EDIT: 1v1 matches are actually quite a different beast than FFA. The "unofficially official" duel maps can be found in Duel40 for Zandronum, ZDDL for ZDaemon, and DuelPack for vanilla/any other ports.

[Marcaek]

99% of dwango sucks except 12 is like 50% ok also Greenwar is a better candidate for a wad with oldschool sensibilities. Greenwar 2 is decent but not as good as 1, there are some maps you should avoid like 3, 7, 25, anything between 29-35 probably one or 2 others.

32in24-10, 11, 13 and 15 although I honestly don't like 15 as much as some of the earlier sessions.

DBAB remastered is the best modern DM wad but some of the maps after 18? are a bit too big for a small group of people.

UDM3\X are in the same league as Greenwar.

Lazarus is a personal favorite and criminally underplayed. EonDM feels a lot like it and is similarly ignored as of late, give both a try but expect to learn how to control the BFG.

Brit\Exec wads are ok for duel or like 4 player DM but they get retarded with more, Onsl3 is the same. Fun "as intended". Here's a compilation of some brit\exec doomkid made

I have a huge nostalgia boner for Cybercrime3 but while it is good it's also just 12 maps and one of them is a big square sniper arena, while map11 is too laggy for a lot of people apparently.

For Skulltag\Zandronum there's Dynamite DM which is a community favorite and one of the only Friday Night Fragfest sessions to hit 64 players :^). AFTSDM, Jenocide, IGPack11 are all fun. Ragnarok DM is loaded with powerups and crazy guns. All will need this file loaded first on your server.

UptightDM is a mixed bag of fat maps I usually avoid hosting outside of FNF, also has it's own weapon wad and Superfast DM has mark klem midis and is ok i guess i'm advertising your maps bob

I'd recommend trying some of the older DM wads out there with Eon Weapons which is a slight retooling of the Doom weapons, it makes the SG\Chain more viable without them disturbing the stock gameplay very much.

Anything I didn't link can be found here

[Doomkid]

Marcaek said:

UDM3\X are in the same league as Greenwar.

In terms of gameplay this is definitely accurate, but UDM looks 99x better than Greenwar does! Also Dwango isn't that bad :^) That aside I agree completely with everything Marc said, great recommendations. Eon Weapons are a great way to put a fresh spin on DM wads. (Sadly, it only works in Zandronum, if Rustking gives me permission I might try and port it as closely as possible to Odamex/Zdaemon some time soon.)

[Combinebobnt]

toke dm was funner than all of the above wads put together

[Egyptian Guardian]

Doomkid said:

Dwango5/6/12 - Like the IWADs of deathmatch. Some maps are lackluster but many are very fun. Generally good for 4-8 players. (There are about 50 good Dwango maps in total, I compiled them all into one easy wad here.)

Classix - Compilation of the mancerx and danzig wad series. Very oldschool, balanced around 4 players.

lazarus1j - Newschool DM with great detail, well balanced for 4-6 players.

udm3 - solid, well balanced maps that look clean, but not over detailed. 4-8 players.

udmX - More NS than udm3. Great visuals and gameplay. 4-8 players, though some could support 10.

brit10 / brit11 / exec.wad - BFG spam maps. Way fun for 4 players and teaches you how to evade like a champ! (Compiled here, 30 maps total)

cybercrime series - Changed guns, awesome computer/sci-fi theme going on. Good for up to 10. (There are different versions for ZDaemon and Zan, someone might be able to provide easy links to them all.)

greenwar - Oldschool DM. Not much to look at, but perfect balance for about 6 players.

gw2 - Nothing like greenwar 1, but still fun for 4 players. Maps are too cramped, but still enjoyable.

FastDM - True to it's name. Visuals are OS, but gameplay feels fast and modern.

EonDM - A good mix of NS and OS style.

Many 32in24 wads (especially after 32in24:10)

DBAB (Don't be a bitch) series - for LMS or FFA, large maps that are amazing visually and fun to play. Up to 10 players easily.

I have also made quite a few DM wads which you can find here. There's loads of great DM turf out there, I'm forgetting a bunch at the moment but I'm sure someone can expand the list!

EDIT: 1v1 matches are actually quite a different beast than FFA. The "unofficially official" duel maps can be found in Duel40 for Zandronum, ZDDL for ZDaemon, and DuelPack for vanilla/any other ports.

Thank you very much. I will make sure to try all the deatmatch wads @ school with my friends, along with using the samsara mod. I will also try out your very own wads, as I have looked at your website once or twice before.

And I kinda have to agree with Marcaek, although there are some very good dwango maps, the majority have aged horribly and I really don't think it lives up to it's legacy despite being one of the most popular dm wads of the 90's.

[doomslayer11122]

2DMMAPS is one of my personal favorites.