what are the playstyles of Doom, and what is yours?

what do you think all the different playstyles to doom are, and what is your's? I'll start first, I'm a very defensive player until traped, then I try to push my way into saftey.

In deathmatch, I'm generally a charger, but sometimes you gotta keep your distance and pepper the opponents with the chaingun. All depends on the turf!

In terms of rules, freelook is options, but jumping is kinda lame, crouching is criminal, and respawn protection is frustrating as balls. Aside from those general guidelines, anything goes!

I tend to play defensively as well. When I smell a teleport/closet trap coming I always plan out an exit route and unless I get locked in I will bail out of there and then pump rockets into the room or something. If there are a bunch of hitscanners around, I will play a cover shooter and snipe them with the chaingun while popping in and out of a corner. I don't really care for initiating infighting unless I'm low on ammo or there's a useful Cyber/Mastermind that can make a huge difference. If I have the BFG I will always use it on Archviles, Barons or 3+ Hell Knights. If there's a lone Cyber, I'll always go for the 2-hit combo, even though my success rate has been dropping lately. If there are two or more I'll just spam the BFG while circling from a medium distance. When playing slaughtermaps, Pain Elementals are #1 BFG priority aside from Archviles actively targeting me. I will frequently quicksave outside of combat but not during encounters. Exceptions are if it's a big arena scenario or something that's completely busting my balls, in which case I'll save once or twice in the middle. I don't reload unless I die or do something exceptionally stupid.

Straferun around like a mad cunt and die a lot.

For the most part, I'm pretty cautious and play defensively. I do a lot of backing up and picking off from a distance. Using cover a lot and taking pot shots. It's much slower and I guess not the 'intended way the developers want you to play', but I last a lot longer and just enjoy doing it like that more.

From what I've seen from videos and others discussing, it seems the proper way to play Doom is to hold down the sprint butting and bury your face into the chest of every enemy and hold down the attack button for the super shotgun until you win the level.

I'm bad at multiplayer so I don't really have a fixed play style for that.

As for SP, I usually play in a way that's a mix between offensive and defensive.

If there are monsters like imps that fire non-homing projectiles, I go on an all-out offensive.

I play defensively when there are chain gunners, revenants and archviles.

I usually bust out the BFG when there are PEs, Archviles in open places, Cybies or Masterminds and/or +3 revenants.

I usually rely heavily on circle strafing and bring out weapons with high rate of fire against monsters like Mancubi and Arachnotron, who have higher pain chance.

Lastly, I exploit the "back floating" property of lost souls to buy time. So my weapon of choice for a big room full of lost souls is the Shotgun.

Well, it goes something like...
RIP AND TEAR YOUR GUTS! YOU ARE HUUGE! THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS! RIP AND TEAR!

But in reality, I try to beat the levels as fast as I can because they're scary as fuck with those damn pinkies.

I proceed through maps slowly, freqently humping walls, because I want to find many secrets.

When I'm trapped in arena with dangerous enemies, I circle-strife and spam all my weapons.

I use BFG on archvilers, pains, bosses and swarms of enemies.

I use launcher against tough projectilers (barons/knights, fatties, arachnos and sometimes spooks, too.)

Otherwise, I mostly rely on shotties/chaingun, depending on the distance.

I use plasma rifle rarely, usually when I'm in risky situation or when BFG is unavailable.

I love berserk-punching pinkydemons/sprites.

And I like producing infighting!

Now my top list of monsters to terminate first:
1. Archvilers - I always destroy them first. Fuck 'em.
2. Pains.
3. Chaingangers.
4. Lost skulls (damn, they're annoying)
5. Spooks
6. Arachnos.
7. Fats
8. Zoms/shotgunners
8. Impies/cacos/knights/barons
9. Pinks/sprites
10. And I leave cybers/masterminds for the last. I usually make them kill other monsters first and then deal with them.

my playstyle is panicking, getting hit by every stray revenant rocket and using up every last bit of health on the level. I love moving doomguy around complicated, interesting environments with tons of care poured into them but as soon as I encounter actual enemies I go to pieces, and no amount of practise fixes that

I always have some tactic and i use it all time.
Heh... In general more of maps which I played recently requires tactical movement and action. More and more maps requires more your brain skills to beat map instead just run and shoot.
Some of them without infighting isn't finishable even.

A variable between defensive/slow/cautious and offensive/fast/aggressive depending on how I'm feeling and what odds are against me.

Usually back myself into a corner like a fool with a rapidly approaching mob.

Retreat if possible to previous room/area when the enemy setup unveiled to me in the present place looks too risky to work with.

Try to not run over items mindlessly when I don't need them, and conserve powerful pickups for later use if I have a choice.

Occasionally save, usually when about to acquire a key or pull a suspicious looking switch, sometimes scumming if I'm paranoid/shit's tough.

I like to play as carefully as I can, saving at semi-regular intervals and making it out preferably with as much health still left as possible.

Aside from that, my play style is pretty much getting out alive as quickly as possible, not specifically hunting for secrets but not complaining if I happen to stumble upon one either.

Yeah, I try to leave a map on a good note if possible with adequate or fully stocked health, armor and ammo. Do try to find secrets if possible, especially since they usually make life easier.

This is my playstyle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNQLXXwYfw


It doesn't always work out perfectly

I always like to take it slow and observe and tactically take down enemies, if there are enemies in the ledges or a gap in some wall where I can see an enemy through, I love snipping from distance. I like levels made for exploration, nice architectures to stare, and sometimes I adore levels with great design and beautiful architectures even if the gameplay sucks.

So typically the opposite of how many people think of Doom, made for speedrunning. I also don't like slaughtermaps for that reason. Too annoying to look and walk around, always running on your feet. I'd rather walk around some beautiful maps, with the occasional shotgunner or imp to snipe or shoot, maybe clearing an area and proceeding pacefully.

Then on multiplayer, which I usually don't play, I am an idiot. I will run around mindlessly trying to find people to kill, forgot all about strategy all together. That's why I am so annoyed by Counterstrike.

I'm a heavy player of Brutal Doom. As a result I'm either very far to snipe with my rifle or I'm charging in close focusing my heavy weapons on tough enemy heads. I like to SSG blast a caco to bits and likewise a hellknight or minigun the Revenant, Mancubuc or Baron's head for quick kills while dodging projectiles. For fun I like to try kick Imp and finish them off with a shotgun blast.

I don't play MP much, but my SP style is:
Use the [super]shotgun and only the [super]shotgun, quickly approach enemies, fire at them and go back just as quick, then strafe a little, then quickly approach...
Although, I do use the plasma gun, but as ammo for it isn't particularly plentiful, I quickly go to my same old love. #shotgun4eva

I'm a big fan of bum rushing. I explore levels more intimately when they seem inviting and particularly non-linear, but I find it extremely satisfying to put myself in very dangerous situations while trying to avoid being out-and-out reckless. If this starts to result in a string of quick deaths, then I act more cautiously. If I'm playing with Brutal Doom, I sometimes still play this way if the enemy count is low enough.

Depends, if i'm playing with a mod, then i'll play agressive, such as emptying my guns magazines and reload them all after killing enemies.
But also conserving as much ammo as possible, saving rockets and cells for when i really need to use the RL, PG or BFG and making good use of chainsaw and berserk for pinkies and other melee based monsters.
Although sometimes i take my time, being silent and get monster infighting or use silenced weapons, depending on what mod i'm using.
This playstyle suits me well, both offensive and defensive, becuase i use keyboard for almost everything except aiming, that is done with the touch-pad.
Although i tend to do some mistakes that can lead to difficult situations to get out of.

I generally go in gung-ho with guns blazing and I try to get 100% kills, 100% secrets, and 100% items...

Though 100% items on Doom (1993) made me rage quit... especially on E1M7 where there's that one jerkish armor piece placement which made me rage and yell so much because if I didn't collect it I would have 99% items instead of 100%.

So I guess you could say I'm a bit of a completionist.

If I'm not completing a level, then I generally go in Ash Williams style, chainsawing through Pinkies, blasting my foes with a Super Shotgun, and then just mowing down everyone with whatever gun I feel is best for the situation.

Generally though, I <3 shotguns of any variety. Using a shotgun is just so satisfying.... there's no words to describe it really. =P

Pistols are also satisfying if they have a healthy amount of feedback and kick to it ya know? Like a Beretta M92FS with the slide going back... that's satisfying. =)

MrGlide said:

what do you think all the different playstyles to doom are,

1. Offensive, aka nearly mindless run-and-gun, ideally all the time.
2. Defensive, aka careful shot-and-pop and camping, ideally all the time.
3. Strategic, aka (consciously or intuitively) thinking about each situation to choose the "better" playstyle to handle it.

MrGlide said:

and what is your's?

My default one is strategic, but sometimes I'm in a mood for full offensive, maybe occasionally full defensive too.

In single player, I'm an ammo hoarder. My usual strategy is to rely on the SSG as much as possible unless there's no other way.

In deathmatch is different. I suck at SSG swing-shooting, so I usually just stick with chaingun sniping and rocket spamming. Since most players use close range SSG shots to get insta kills, I also keep my distance.

Over the years I've developed the right balance of movement. I used to be more of a spaz and move too much, sometimes dodging awkwardly, but nowadays I notice that I get a lot done by starting with the bare minimum effort required to do a maneuver killed and adjusting according to the situation (and I'm familiar with plenty of Doom situations). It's served me well. Occam's razor, I guess. Same goes for Marathon.

DoomzRules said:

I generally go in gung-ho with guns blazing and I try to get 100% kills, 100% secrets, and 100% items...

Though 100% items on Doom (1993) made me rage quit... especially on E1M7 where there's that one jerkish armor piece placement which made me rage and yell so much because if I didn't collect it I would have 99% items instead of 100%.

So I guess you could say I'm a bit of a completionist.

If I'm not completing a level, then I generally go in Ash Williams style, chainsawing through Pinkies, blasting my foes with a Super Shotgun, and then just mowing down everyone with whatever gun I feel is best for the situation.

Generally though, I <3 shotguns of any variety. Using a shotgun is just so satisfying.... there's no words to describe it really. =P

Pistols are also satisfying if they have a healthy amount of feedback and kick to it ya know? Like a Beretta M92FS with the slide going back... that's satisfying. =)

Why you should care about 100% items? If you have 200 (or more) of health and armour, why you should waste your time looking for a Soulsphere? Really, it does not matter. It is not like you will get some bonus weapon for getting 3x100% on all levels. So screw that.

But I usually try to get 100% kills and secrets. 100%K because I am Marine that should kill all enemies to humanity, and 100%S because they usually help me survive.

If you did not deduce that from my username already, I am also a big shotgun nut. Pump action, semi auto, auto, sawed off, flak cannons... love them all. That is one of the reasons why I mainly play Doom - because it pretty much introduced shotgun to FPS genre, and also because shotgun is practically the default weapon here (just look at all the shells laying around!). Consequently, for example, in Project Brutality I use Auto Shotguns as my 'go-to' weapons. They work in most scenarios, and give me gigantic enjoyment. Just perfect!

As for my playstyle, firstly, I do not quicksave. I save only in the first room of the level. This is a leftover from PSX Doom, where the only way to resume progress was to use passwords that could only return you to the start of the given level. I find the game more exiciting this way, since as I progress into the level, the mistakes become more costly. This relief that I get when I finally clear a map is worth it (but that also means I rarely have time to progress more than one level per session - oh well, so be it).

In consequence from the previous point, I try to proceed carefully, having in mind available cover and retreat routes. Serves me well if I find myself under fire or a monster closet reveals when I grab a key.

I do not conserve ammo, since health is both much more important and more difficult to restore. And I hardly run out of ammo, anyway, which annoys me - on what I am going to spend all those bullets and rockets?

I love berserk, but getting an opportunity to use it is difficult, since anything more dangerous than a Revenant is going to maul me in hand-to-hand. This applies to Brutal Doom and its derivatives even more, since in them enemies got too buff for me to handle. Good thing that, practically, I always have ammo.

I never use explosives on Pain Elementals, as their Lost Souls work like shields for them. So they get a taste of hot lead from minigun instead. Arch-Viles are disposed of with SSG, because Hell has not signed any Geneva convention. Revenants can go f*** themselves after I pump them full of my own rockets. But I like to fight Cacodemons or Hell Nobles - they give me an impression of being worthy enemies, since they have powerful attacks and look imposing.

Oh, and Pinkies... well, I will just say that we have great communication :D

shotfan said:

I never use explosives on Pain Elementals, as their Lost Souls work like shields for them.

I use rockets on PE's whenever available because it's the fastest, most efficient way to kill them, highly counterintuitive and probably stupid. Also, hitting the group of lost souls that spawns and killing them all with a single rocket is a good feeling.

I also have no issues using rockets against a single bull if I know I'll need the shells/bullets in a CQB fight later.

For DM I run around as fast as I can; constantly changing direction or even just turning around, as well as sneaking up on people (because people rarely check their backs as they run) and typically stalking my prey around the level til I finally get close enough to get a shot in, then subsequently miss or at least not kill and then die, or til they run into someone and then in the resulting confusion I die, heh. I seem to perform much better in Doom's MP in groups rather than in a straight-up duel; recognizing chances to cause confusion or wait a millisecond longer in cover as someone fires at me so the person behind them kills them/grabs their attention; at which point mopping up the room is easier as I'm no longer the primary target of anyone. Needless to say this works better in smaller groups, as there are less people for me to manage.

I hate people that camp and do other cheap things to win. They quickly become priority targets for me.

Rocket launcher can be good against Lost Souls and PEs if used properly. You must constantly watch both your distance from the PE and whether he is currently preparing to spawn a Lost Soul or not, ideally while circle strafing around him in some way and dodging Lost Souls that might roam around. As long as the distance between you and him is long-enough that you wouldn't damage yourself if you hit him, feel free to spam rockets, but if a Lost Soul suddenly comes your way or the PE suddenly starts preparing to spawn a Lost Soul and the distance between you and him is short-enough that you would damage yourself if the rocket hit the Lost Soul, just aim your rocket launcher sideways, so that your next rocket will miss both the PE and the Lost Soul, dodge the Lost Soul yourself, and aim at the PE (or the Lost Soul) again. Oftentimes you won't need to ever stop firing until all PEs and Lost Souls die, provided you have enough rockets and the area is reasonably spacious. I like using this strategy against PEs as well as against mere Lost Soul swarms, it usually works well.

Fonze said:

I use rockets on PE's whenever available because it's the fastest, most efficient way to kill them, highly counterintuitive and probably stupid. Also, hitting the group of lost souls that spawns and killing them all with a single rocket is a good feeling.

I also have no issues using rockets against a single bull if I know I'll need the shells/bullets in a CQB fight later.

I agree, especially when there is cover, bounce in and out he'll mostly not fire lost souls at you, and I try to spam 3 at him If I can. I'll use up all my shotty ammo if it doesn't endanger me, but I try to save my bullets alot for stun locking, sniping and pushing.

scifista42 said:

Rocket launcher can be good against Lost Souls and PEs if used properly. You must constantly watch both your distance from the PE and whether he is currently preparing to spawn a Lost Soul or not, ideally while circle strafing around him in some way and dodging Lost Souls that might roam around. As long as the distance between you and him is long-enough that you wouldn't damage yourself if you hit him, feel free to spam rockets, but if a Lost Soul suddenly comes your way or the PE suddenly starts preparing to spawn a Lost Soul and the distance between you and him is short-enough that you would damage yourself if the rocket hit the Lost Soul, just aim your rocket launcher sideways, so that your next rocket will miss both the PE and the Lost Soul, dodge the Lost Soul yourself, and aim at the PE (or the Lost Soul) again. Oftentimes you won't need to ever stop firing until all PEs and Lost Souls die, provided you have enough rockets and the area is reasonably spacious. I like using this strategy against PEs as well as against mere Lost Soul swarms, it usually works well.

I find the rocket launcher the worst weapon to get rid of the LS. Rockets are not hitscan (so LS can dodge them) and can blew up right in my face just as a LS is charging, which is much worse than just an actual LS bite. One faceful-of-rocket too many and I stopped trying to fight either LS or PE with rockets. Now I just shower them with bullets or plasma.

Of course, one popular strategy is to exploit the PE's inability to produce Lost Souls at close range, you could even use your chainsaw and just rip into the thing until it explodes. Preferably backing off at that point since the Lost Souls come out "active".

I don't know if I have a playstyle, I just make the monsters go boom.