aldiboronti

I couldn't have wished for a fuller or more informed answer. Thank you, Maes. Yeah, 40oz, that's exactly what I've been doing (charging in to berserk punch, not walking like an old lady, though I guess now I might as well! It's weird how your perceptions can often fool you in Doom.)

Ah, straferunning! Never mastered the art unfortunately (probably because I've always been a keyboard player). It simply never occurred to me that an essential key would be accessible only by straferunning. I think it's a flaw in what is otherwise a fantastic map (but then I would say that, wouldn't I?). Anyway, mystery solved. Thanks, guys! Guess I'll finally, after all these years, have to start practicing with the mouse (I'm assuming straferunning is impossible with keyboard control only?)

I absolutely love this megawad, it really is up there with classics such as Requiem and Memento Mori. But on one of the levels (can't recall the name but I'll try to describe it) there's a shootable switch set in the wall which is driving me crazy. It's the small level based around an elevator and the switch needs to be targeted from a balcony in order to disclose another switch. I just can't hit the damn switch no matter which weapon I use and I need to noclip right up to it to shoot it. BTW I play in the classic style, ie no raising the weapon up or down, but even if I turn this on I can't hit the damn thing. Is there some trick to this that I'm missing?

Just to say, Chris, that your previous High/Low episodes are among my favorite Doom maps, for inventiveness and playability they take a lot of beating. I am so looking forward to this one. Great to see you back! As for the sky I'd say you should stick to the Doom 2 one, I don't think the Quake sky fits well with Doom.

Sure, I enjoy playing megawads straight through too. But by designing each level with pistol starts in mind also adds hugely to the extended playability of the wad. It means that when you've met the challenge of a complete playthrough you can go back and try to get through each level starting with the pistol. In other words it's an added bonus, and a hugely enjoyable one.

I'm on map 06 of Jenesis 2. Color me impressed! This has to be one of the best new mapsets (there are 20) that I've played in a long time. Wonderful design, challenging gameplay, tricky secrets, this has the works and reminds me very much of TNT's housestyle. One of the things that particularly endears me to a wad is that no matter how seemingly insurmountable sometimes the odds seem there is always a tactical way, if you can find it, to take out the monsters. This is by no means a brute slaughterfest. Back to the fray!

Just starting Vile Flesh by Gwyn Williams. http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=12492 Up to map 05 at the moment, no major onslaughts of baddies yet but certainly enough to keep you on your toes, and I prefer megawads which build up the tension and difficulty gradually. I'm impressed with the map design too.

The wads in this thread would be a nightmare to navigate through without your hard work, Xaser, many thanks! BTW the link in the first post leads to the unrevised page; removing index at the end of the url brings up the updated version.

Yes, I remember frantically running around trying to punch out demons while the screen stayed red. It wasn't until years later that I noticed, while reading the manual, that the damn Berserker pack lasted the whole level! As several posts in this thread testify I swear this must have been the most common Doom misonception of all.

Just finished Doom Redemption on UV. It's still one of the best Doom 1 miniwads I've ever played (9 maps in all). And there are still secrets in it that I've never been able to find after all these years!

Just started this, hobomaster, and I paused it right at the start to come and say that this illustrates perfectly what I was talking about in my post above about the qualities of the original Doom. You've captured that feeling perfectly here as one of the first things the player sees is a distant building with monsters swarming around the windows. Great stuff! Finished now. That was a cracker! Just the right amount of opposition for me and I love the structure of the map. Now to go back and find those secrets, didn't get a single one first time (too busy warding off monsters!)

My compliments to the chef! By whom I mean every one of you that have contributed maps so far to this superb feast of Doom. I'm having a real ball playing them and the thread title is completely right, many if not most of the maps feel exactly like Doom The Way Id Did. But for the resolution of the screen (I like to play using GZDoom) I could be back in the storied halls of Romero and Co, edging nervously up to the next corner, unsure what monstrosity is around it. One of the things I recall marveling over in the original Doom was that amazing sense of space. You'd glance through a window and there in the distance would be buildings with monsters visible moving around. Then you'd get hit by a bullet and you'd realize with a shock that the bastards were actually firing at you! I'd never seen anything like it in a video game. I remember too first playing E2M4, coming out of the teleporter near the beginning and looking down the length of this immense vestibule, watching the imps way down at the other end firing at me and just gazing in wonderment as the fireballs sailed lazily through the air, taking seemingly for ever to get to me, crashing majestically into the wall behind me (no, I didn]t forget to dodge them, however rapt I was!) That feeling of pure awe, of course, can never be recaptured, but everything else about that original Doom experience you guys are delivering just as advertised! BTW I'm playing the games in no particular order. Just finished Cold Steel by Mr Chris and Mr Freeze. Absolutely brilliant, with all the quality I've come to expect from the maps in this thread! This wad has all the earmarks of a classic in the making, something that everyone who worked on will take immense pride in. Kudos to all!

Most disappointing sequel ever: Heretic 2 (although Hexen 2 gives it a run for its money). I can still remember playing this travesty of a game for the first time, with my sense of anticipation and excitement deflating like a punctured balloon. Did anybody here actually like it?

Troopers' Playground by Matthias Worch. http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=5302 I'm on map 06 of the 9 map wad so far and I'm in Doom heaven. I love this guy's maps and I'd never played this wad until now. Architecture, monster placement, secrets, every facet of this wad is superbly executed, as always with Worch's creations. BTW Matthias has a fascinating page on his weblog in which he writes about creating his Doom maps. Interesting stuff, as is the rest of his weblog (he went from Doom modding to becoming a professional games designer.) http://www.worch.com/portfolio/doom/

Yeah, that one had me stumped until I suddenly noticed that X. It crops up a few levels later too, equally deviously. If you think the early maps are tricky though, gun_psycho,wait till you get to Map 20, Silures. Possibly the most fiendishly designed Doom map ever!

Bad link.

Interesting, although I have to say the garish colors in that first level almost made me lose my lunch. Doom is not a game which responds well to a psychedelic color palette. Still the later levels are better. (So far!)

Espi's Back to Basics http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=15174 I love this wad even though I've never managed to complete it without cheating. Not because it's particularly difficult, I simply can't get to the blue key in E2M5. There are pillars over a red (harmless) lava pit, which presumably you need to use as stepping stones to get to the open entrance on the other side, but they're just too far apart. Anyone know if there's something I'm missing here?

Did your Gamer Diapers leak again?

Or alternatively spend the few bucks it actually takes to buy the game on Steam. At least then you're giving a little something back to the creative gaming geniuses that brought us Doom in the first plae.

Just finished it! Brilliant map, iori! I too had trouble with the red key at first, Marnetmar, until I realized I'd missed a small switch in a shady corner. (Or was that for the chainsaw and I just missed the key at first?) Absolutely loved this one!

Exactly my feelings. I thought that it must be me at first, the fact that I found Eternal Doom IV a huge bore. Come on, I said, this is from the team that brought you one of your favorite wads, Eternal Doom III, keep playing, you must be missing something. I gave up in the end, hated the damn thing, and I'm cheered to see that I'm not alone in this. Never been more disappointed in a wad in my Doom life.

Interesting, I hadn't realized there was a Doom 2 version. I've played njdoom1, a Doom wad, which I enjoyed. From the first few maps it looks as if this is exactly the same but with Doom 2 monsters added.

Yeah, that was fun. There's a switch that can't be reached in the normal course of play (at least I don't think so). I noclipped to operate it and it opened up that small tunnel near the start area. There doesn't seem to be a reason for it, or am I missing something? (I found the two official secrets).

Just finished Kadath. http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?id=13628 It's an HP Lovecraft-inspired Doom II map, very large, non-linear, plenty of monsters so careful with the ammo, it can get tight. (It helps to find the secret Command Room somewhere near the start). The creepy music adds to the atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.