Doomkid

I'll be switching to this for my future vanilla Doom sessions. Awesome features here.

If the map is gripping me I'll try to get at least most of the secrets and kills. Otherwise this tends to feel like an express lane to making what was a fun and punchy map a gruelling slog instead. If I happen to 100% any/all categories during play it's like "oh nice" for about 0.1 picoseconds before I forget forever and move onto the next map. The tendency I've seen in many Doom streamers to double or even triple a map's playtime by looking for some secret cubby with a green armor is absolutely mind blowing to me, because they NEVER appear to enjoy the process and would certainly be having more fun shooting enemies in the next map, heh. It strikes me as a strange compulsion much of the time moreso than it is a means of having more fun with the map!

They all excel in different areas, imo. E1 has a great sense of place and thematic consistency for such an old game, absolutely the perfect "hook" episode to have started Doom with, from the perspective of both a developer or as a player. E2 keeps some of that tech essence, but introduces elements of corruption and abstract design by comparison to E1. It also feels a little more abandoned, a little more eerie, and is certainly a distinct notch harder. The atmosphere is where this one shines. E3 admittedly is a bit of a letdown, but the full-on abstract design and hellish themes in some maps is still excellent. Honestly, I think I was just spoiled by playing Doom 2 and about a dozen PWADs before actually getting the full Ultimate Doom, the abstraction and bright glowing red rocks and such probably would have captured me more if it was my first time seeing such maps, but it wasn't. As a babe, E4 felt like what I "hoped for" from E3 for those years of seeing it on the shareware episode select screen. The first two maps absolutely rocked my shit, I couldn't beat them legitimately til a couple years later. I fucking loved that. It felt like there was still more for me to grow toward / look forward to in Doom. I iddqd'd it as a kid and loved the whole damn episode, but as a more discerning adult, it's still great but it's SO frontloaded in terms of challenge and fun, which was a mistake with the gift of nearly 30 years of hindsight. All in all, E3 is the worst of a very important and entertaining bunch, especially for their age and groundbreaking nature.

Doom Explorer does it all, and does so easily. Been using it for many years now

I was there for hours on the stream, this was such a fun way to celebrate Doom, wish I could have been there in person! Thanks to MWG for letting me know it was happening :)

It did get a mention, but Abscission is one of the best wads I've played in years. It certainly belongs in the discussion when it comes to best vanilla megawads, particularly best solo-author megawads of all time, without a doubt. There's no other Doom wad in existence with a soundtrack like that, either. I see it remaining one of my favorites for years to come!

I've probably said this too many times but I'm immensely glad the naysayers were wrong. I was so worried when I started mapping and DMing in 2001, hearing people occasionally lament Doom being "on death's door".. Then it just kept not dying year after year, to the point where I found it hilarious when people would say it. I am sad the DM scene reduced to a shell of its former self, but classic Doom by and large has only gotten bigger over the last 20ish years!

..Respectfully, all you pissy babies WHINING your tits off about how "toxic" Doomworld is/was frankly wouldn't know the first goddamn thing about "toxicity" if it brought a paddle to your spoiled asses. :^) Ahem. ..Bullshit aside, I really do believe DW has always been well below the "standard internet level" of toxicity. It was (the closest thing to) a reasonably welcoming place for trans, gay and even furry Doomers well before communities being even partially welcoming to those demographics was at all common - I'm talking late 2000s, FFS - and shit, acceptance of those groups is STILL really rocky in many communities, YT or social media comment sections, etc etc... but not here. I been round the various corners of the Doom community since I was a literal child and I never felt "pushed away by toxicity" or whatever such nonsense. Occasionally someone might talk some shit, but usually before I'd even get to respond, someone else would jump in the fray on my behalf. So a little crazy compared to the norm, maybe? Not toxic though. Absolutely below the common internet average, be it 2003, 2013 or 2023. There was (and to a large degree, still is) this sense of camaraderie that I didn't feel at all in other (gaming) communities of the older eras. Maybe that's just my experience though. But man. I cannot imagine even attempting to navigate the greater web, ever, if I couldn't even stomach DW's lite-ass nonsense.

I only see WOOD5.. looks really cool!

donuts

64 units being roughly 6 feet makes sense on paper, but to build things to any kind of scale in Doom, X and Y have to be measured differently. If you treat 64 units as 6 feet high, but only 4 feet wide, it becomes pretty easy to scale things appropriately. (The wiki suggests a "realistic" scale of 6 to 5, but even that doesn't cut it, in practice.)

All I'm saying is those Maltesers were really good..