Catpho

There's a slaughtermap article on the wiki, but it's very sparse and vague at the moment. Since this is a pretty common question, maybe I should just edit something in and let the experts correct me later ;) Here's an old dotw post detailing his personal interpretation that I find illuminating. The post is full of nuance and I recommend reading all of it, but these passages are especially relevant (I bolded some parts): Doom monster behaviors change when placed in groups, in a nutshell. This visually looks pretty intimidating regardless of the difficulty of the map (part of the fun to me), and relies upon subtle mechanical interactions that requires you to approach the game differently. This is, imo, what contributes to the idea that slaughter is highly difficult, and perhaps it was like that at inception when it was novel. I agree it takes time to get used to, but imo slaughter does not equal difficulty1. It's more like an alternate way to play the game, using mechanics in a creative way to create a new genre of maps, with its own language. Also, there are plenty of hard but low enemy count maps like Skepland that show that monster count does not determine difficulty. I think this quote by Roofi in a review summarizes what's fun about the slaughter genre: 1 As a side note, it's why I personally think that the term combat puzzle, while well-meaning and in a way accurate, can be a claustrophobic term. Technically any game with challenge (has a lose state) is a puzzle, and over-emphasizing this fact can make the endeavor seem coldly cerebral in a way that doesn't accurately reflect how it feels to play them.

Adorable lol @ the smol forum avatars

Cool video. Even for those who probably know these concepts by heart now, often seeing it put into precise words, packed in one place, and backed up by detailed comparisons and examples can give you new eyes. This is revealing how little I know of other FPSes, but I wonder if there could've been a small section on the items too. Often I find that the same combat setup can change drastically depending on not only what items are placed, but where they're placed i.e. in the beginning of AA M09 (featured in the vid!) the pack of zombiemen on UV can only exercise their body blocking ability partially thanks to the limited means of recovering from their hitscan, what with all the stimpacks mostly scattered in corners far from the action. You've credited stuff pretty nicely in the desc, but as a minor thing I'd love to see their name come up when the footage is shown too. One of my favorite things when watching a vid on an unfamiliar nerd topic is the chance to see something I might want to experience myself. Finally, might be the definitive word on why keyboard-only is viable 99% of the time.

iirc it's the usual command (but any complevel you want) but add -dsdademo. Cant remember where I got this from though.

@yakfak Alien Bastards triggers the no no words filter :D Would appreciate an FAQ too

These titlepics are usually made up by kmx at his Onemandoom blog to add flavor to the reviews. If it's a well known wad, best to check doom wiki to see if there's actually a titlepic there (except Enigma episode, no idea why the fake titlepic is still there).

Do you mean to ask about situations where rad suits are mandatory as opposed to being a difficulty softener? Or wads that recontextualize the rad suit for flair? Or both and more? Answers are pulling in a lot of directions heh. If it's the first question, a lot of fights in Dance on The Water MAP03: Watershed involve mandatory damaging floors where you must juggle fighting and picking up rad suits, making the damaging floor a fight timer of sorts. This is complicated by being forced to maneuver in a way that avoids the monsters blocking the suits when you need em. A lot to take in, but strangely addicting.

^ Least unhinged dsda user

Valiant has the best super chaingun and that host of new monsters that are tailored around you blitzing very fast, even faster than vanilla Doom. It's also got a lot of attention in terms of structure, with each ep having its own concept and pacing. Very action arcade-y attitude. One of the best action megawads in terms of a sense of journey, in this respect. Ancient Aliens has that cool color scheme that still feels radical and fresh even after nearly a decade. It's got a host of guest mappers ranging from the synergetic to the memorably distinct and everywhere in between. Ribbiks once described it as BTSX E3 crossed with a joke wad, with all the highs and lows that might entail: it doesn't have the carefully crafted action hero escalation of Valiant, but it's free spirit gives it a wild edge that is maybe not comparable to any other major skillsaw project. Mostly vanilla with two new monsters, and while that might not sound like much, their presence is very much felt. Instead of those driving midis in Valiant, there's the unpredictable childlike wonders of Stewboy.

I enjoyed the first half a lot, with all those close-up brawls with monsters in tight spaces (the initial manc balcony with the imps all the way to the spider guarding the ssg is very clever space denial). I'm not really sure about the back half with the mastermind. I can see how it's enjoyable to trick the spidermom and get out w/ the red key, but I just keep feeling like I could just cheat the encounter by camping it with the ssg. I dunno, there's a harder fun path and a more easier tedious path, and while I know that I'm responsible for my own fun and all, there's this nagging psychology for me to just go for the easy path just because it's there. Something vaguely unsatisfying about such a setup, imo, but I'm torn because the idea is cool. Have an FDA w/ saves. farcat.zip

Lots of slaughter stuff recently :) Here's an FDA (w/ saves) for @Roofi's 09. I really enjoyed how the separate areans in the map can influence each other; imagine my surprise when I found a pack of AVs already duking it out with a cyb on a return trip with the YK. Very fun map. (if the demo doesn't work try running it on dsdadoom) hr09cat.zip

Expanding brain is to always run but tap keys instead of holding them.

Looking through my bookmarks, here are some threads with specfic practical advice: ^ Read posts by rd and RJD to start ^ Lots of detailed guides

^ @Liberation is the person who compiled it.

That is pretty interesting! Now I'll have to go back to check to see how the progression is handled (how new areas are introduced, how ambushes were done). It seems that whenever possible he would like it to be done via switches instead, probably to lend to the idea that you are diegetically interacting with the world versus the more convenient but more game-y keycards, which has always been a shorthand for "trap goes here" (which is neither a good or a bad thing). This does backfire in a couple of maps. Notably, 06 and 07 features switches way too far from their intended objective, with little visual foreshadowing. 06 is fortunately short and small enough, but the door that needs the switch is a giant brown metal gate with little indication of what might open it (ironically, the very function of keys), either mechanically (a teleporter, a shortcut) or visually (the switch can't look any more different than the gate). This is repeated for 07, a vastly larger and non linear level which is why a lot of people here (incl. me) found it very unsatisfying to navigate. (edit: although adding keys wouldn't have made the map much better, i must add. These maps just fundamentally need more connectivity in layout and visuals) The idea itself is fine and intriguing; it's just that like pretty much every other gameplay decision in Equinox, BPRD is a bit too green to implement well consistently.