What are your top 5 PWADs?

non-megawad list:

comatose
sacrment
enigma
bldstlp

and carwarz

more and more I find that the big level sets, both modern and classic, always have elements I'd wanna remove, be it a level/run of levels, MIDIs from old games, cruddy textures or overly-beautiful moments. i can't imagine the quality control necessary for every map of a megawad to be appealing and frankly it's probably something that shouldn't be attempted anyway

gaspe said:

^ I suggest Reverie.

Reverie is on my to-play list. Don't have a lot of time to play Doom and there's a lot of WADs to go through

No particular order

Sunlust
Sunder
Swim With the Whales
New Gothic Movement
Momento Mori

Doom City
Phobos
Arcadia
Pirate Doom
Breach

Combinebobnt said:

plutonia
doom2
doom1

OK there we go

But OP talks about PWADs, not IWADs.

joe-ilya said:

But OP talks about PWADs, not IWADs.

Yep, otherwise everyone would be listing Doom 1 & 2. A lot of interesting picks, and plenty I haven't even heard of here.

LordShadowZ said:

WADs like Swift Death are out of the question cause I'm just really bad at Doom and I have very little patience. I also don't really care for stuff like BTSX with the major graphics conversions which are off-putting for me. I prefer the more vanilla styled WADs.

I can now add Requiem to my earlier list of AV, MM, and Scythe, just gotta find one more.

Then Going Down will be perfect for you. It uses the stock textures most of time in beautiful ways.

icarus
strain
hr
ksutra
equinox

(not in any particular order)

1. Maps of Chaos
2. 1monster
3. Tei Tenga Incident
4. Whispers of Satan
5. 1994 Tune Up

Voros said:

Then Going Down will be perfect for you. It uses the stock textures most of time in beautiful ways.

What I played of Going Down I didn't particularly care for, other than one specific level. It wasn't bad but its not something I'd go back to

LordShadowZ said:

I'm pretty new to most PWADs and I haven't gotten to completely go through a lot of them yet, but the ones I've really liked so far are Scythe, Alien Vendetta, and Memento Mori.

I'm going to go ahead and shamelessly pimp sinseven.wad + tdevil2.wad since they're both (basically) vanilla. With a bit of luck the DWmegawad club might cover them soon!

Off the top of my head (so if you asked me tomorrow my picks might be different) and in no particular order:

Mordeth
NDCP
BTSX E1
Vanguard
NRFTL

Scythe
Scythe 2
PL2
BTSX E1
Whispers Of Satan

Valiant
Ancient Aliens
Going Down
BTSX E1
BTSX E2
Pirate Doom, aaarghhh shiver me timbers ;)

1.Threshold of Pain
2.Hell Ground
3.Alien Vendetta
4.Pirate Doom
5.Requiem

Scythe
Kama Sutra
DTWiD
D2TWiD
Zone 300

Scythe and D2TWiD will probably always stay on my list but the others may change.

LordShadowZ said:

What I played of Going Down I didn't particularly care for, other than one specific level. It wasn't bad but its not something I'd go back to

Try Zone 300 then. I found that to be enjoyful.

Valiant
Sunlust
Endgame
DTWid
AV

There are many more I could mention ......

1. Going Down
2. Valiant
3. Memento Mori 2
4. BTSX Episode 2
5. Alien vendetta

H-Mentions
- Scythe 1+2
- Sunlust
- DTWID 1+2

5- The way id did (I love maze based levels)
4- Hell revealed 2 (screw those archvilles with chainsaw)
3- The sky may be (because it's weird)
2- No Rest For the Living (literally the last one I've played before my 360 dead)
1- Brutal Doom v20 starter pack (I know sarge is kind of asshole, but this wad kick ass)

rickacid said:

(I know sarge is kind of asshole, but this wad kick ass)

To me he's both likable and hate-able. Inbetween for me.

At this point, I'm probably going to go with:

1) A.L.T.
2) JPCP
3) Ancient Aliens
4) Resurgence
5) Harmony

Not Jabba said:

5) Harmony

Isn't that an iwad?

From lowest to highest.

5: The Rebirth (Link)
I like the maps as they are short and sweet skirmishes that don't drag out too long and play fairly well, they flow rather smoothly and are just generally enjoyable and exciting for me (and a huge inspiration).

4: Perdition's Gate (nolink4u)
Challenging yet fun maps, an experience in enjoyable frustration that brings a glorious sense of victory in the devilishly crafted maps presented in this evil little unofficial add on.

3: Mark's Maps (Link)
I really enjoy this set of maps, I love the simple yet pleasing aesthetic and the little attentions towards details that meld perfectly with the really enjoyable gameplay (This may just be a personal preference thing but I like these substance over style maps).

2: Hell 2 Pay (nolink4u)
Fast, brutal and a hell of a time. Hell 2 Pay's maps are the perfect blend of fast action filled gameplay and interesting story lines. The maps play extremely fluidly and are fun almost all of the time and the story coupled with it allows you to really know what, where and why you are doing things.

1: Icarus: Alien Vanguard (Link)
Obvious choice for me. I have never enjoyed a mapset for Doom as much as I thoroughly enjoyed this one, I love almost everything about this (Solid and fun levels, brilliant custom tracks that give each map a unique feel, a varied and pleasing aesthetic and unique and memorable maps). Can't recommend this one enough really.

Bit of an odd list I'm sure but I just really like those wads specifically, something about them just click right with me and they are almost perfectly suited for my playing styles.

Honorable mentions go to:
Strain (Link)
Requiem (Link)
Interception (Link)
-

Voros said:

Isn't that an iwad?

It is a bit of a gray area, it is kind of both really.

1) Plutonia 2
2) Plutonia Revisited Communism Project
3) Doom 2 The Way ID Did
4) Doom The Way ID Did
5) TNT 2: Devilution (hello from 2019!)

Ancient Aliens
Sunder
Alien Vendetta
Going Down
Scythe 2

Combat Shock
Combat Shock 2

Newgothic: This map takes a special place for me as recording it introduced me into speedrunning and I invested a lot of time playing it, yet it never bored me.
Dark tartarus: Most fun wad ever.
Chillax: for all the fun we had with this wad online, I don't know any other wad balanced around respawning items.
Deus vult 2: The cathedral map is awesome and dv1 is also included in the wad.
Zdoomwars: Very unique multiplayer mod, as usual in strategy games the community sucks but it is not the mod's fault.

mrthejoshmon said:

4: Perdition's Gate (nolink4u)
Challenging yet fun maps, an experience in enjoyable frustration that brings a glorious sense of victory in the devilishly crafted maps presented in this evil little unofficial add on.

Link: http://visionsofdoom.us/wads/perdgate.zip

rdwpa said:

Link: http://visionsofdoom.us/wads/perdgate.zip

Huh, I thought that one was warez (which is why I didn't link it).