tectactoe
04.14.25 | Prompted by my recent replays of DOOM and DOOM II in anticipate for the new DOOM game announcement. |
brickhed
04.14.25 | pretty solid ranking spoken as a true doom enjoyer |
ConcubinaryCode
04.14.25 | I played 1 &2 recently and was surprised by how fun they still are and how fun it is to scour the map for the secrets and wipe out all the demons. I think 1 is still a classic and I love how that game progresses but 2 still takes the edge because there's so much content jammed in it.
3 is still fun but it's also very long and the final boss is a joke. RoE was a pretty solid expansion too. |
Demon of the Fall
04.14.25 | kinda bummed I didn’t make the list in homage to my lost av (and the poor Caco is so low… deservedly tho!)
Solid list. Unnecessarily nerdy level of detail in explaining the rankings which I appreciate. The chaingunner is deservedly quite high, so good take there
I do wonder if some of the album choices could’ve been more fitting.
I liked the first new Doom but you can’t beat the classics. Sooooooo much beautiful hellish nostalgia baked into those ones |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | Indeed, the original DOOM is a classic for so many reasons, but I've always been partial to the level design of DOOM II - a lot more open space, interesting pathways and puzzles, unique designs and triggers (some might call it gimmicky - fuck 'em), and ultimately more memorable outside of possiblly a few levels from The Shores of Hell. Plus, the super shotgun is one of the greatest weapons in any FPS ever :o)
I haven't played DOOM 3 since ca. 2004 or 2005. Don't remember much, honestly, other than thinking it was a very different DOOM game than the first two. (Not just in the fact that it's 3D, but how you need to approach it i.e. calm and slow vs. guns a-blazing.)
DOOM 2016 was great and I haven't finished Eternal. (Bought it on Switch and it sucks, but I recently got a PS5 so I want to give it another chance on better hardware.) |
botb
04.14.25 | This was such a fun nostalgic read. Love these games. Doom 1 and 2 are the goats but I also have a special spot in my heart for 3 because it’s legit terrifying and I don’t think many first person horror games scratch the itch that that game does for me. |
Demon of the Fall
04.14.25 | yeah, I loved Doom 3 as well. It was just a very different experience from the originals. Treat it like a slower, suspense filled horror shooter and it was great. Like a precursor to Dead Space.
I’ve not played Eternal yet. Been working my way (sporadically) through Doom 64 |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | @Demo - hard to think of anything I've played more than the original DOOM (not counting online multiplayer games). From, like 1995 to 1999 it was literally the only computer game we owned so I played so much of it. I have no choice but to be nerdy and overly analytic when it comes to my children.
I feel the same as you - surely nostalgia plays a big factor. But I'm also "nostalgic" for games like Super Mario 64 and Goldeneye and GTA Vice City. When I go back and play those, however, they suck. Graphics are shit, controls are cumbersome, camera angles are whack, game play gets repetitive. The original DOOM suffers no such drawbacks. It plays flawlessly to this very day and is still both challenging and fun. Even the pixelated graphics have a marvelous retro-charm to them. |
Demon of the Fall
04.14.25 | yeah, there’s a timeless simplicity to Doom’s level design and the way it feels / controls. It doesn’t feel clunky or frustrating to play even now. It holds up remarkably well in that sense. That said, if I grew up in a different era I may not feel so affectionately toward it. I think that’s a fair assumption.
I suppose a lot of other “classic” games have been remade and theoretically improved upon, but a lot won’t hold their own regardless. In fact I know some won’t and I don’t need to play them to find out. Tomb Raider II for instance? No chance. The early stages of fully 3D games will likely have aged the worst overall in fact |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | How is DOOM 64? It's the only mainline DOOM game I've not played in any capacity. (Not sure why. I had a Nintendo 64 and loved DOOM, someone it never happened.) I see that it is available for $5 on the Nintendo Online store for the Switch port. Worth it? |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Cyberdemon, Vile, and Arachnotron are top 3 imo.
Icon of Sin in classic doom is tragic. Probably the worst official classic Doom level ever made, would even place it below Habitat in TNT. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Imagine getting through 60+ levels of demonic hordes just to fight a glorified wall texture |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Love the old Doom Engine games (Yes, even Final Doom).
@tectactoe I loved Doom 64. Its like if you used the old Doom Engine (With a bunch of modifications) and had a Doom 3 like atmosphere instead. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Honestly the Spider Mastermind is way too high though imo. She only shows up like 5 times in the original two games and other than the boss fight in Doom 1, is a joke.
>Gets Crushed
>Has most of her health drained/killed by that cyberdemon
>Two on one level with 2 invincibilities on it. |
Brabiz
04.14.25 | Based ranking. Icon of Sin is a top tier placement. Visually one of the most metal things ever.
Love OG Doom so much. Truly never gets old, I’ve probably played the first one hundreds of times at this point. The second one not so much, I have complaints about it personally, I’m not a fan of how ridiculously complicated some of the level designs are.
Gotta be the most metal games ever made, and I don’t think the new ones live up to that. Idk why, it was just a specific vibe. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Final Doom rules, especially Plutonia. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | I've jokingly thought about trying to be the guy who finally Pacifist's Stronghold. It feels like Map 05 where if you can just get past the starting area, the only real challenging part afterwards would be the berserk/blue key area. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | @sonic - thx, I will likely pick up D64 then. I watched some of BigMacDavis's playthrough videos of it a while ago and thought it looked pretty sweet but never actually purchased it. As for Spiderdemon, I only might swap it with the Arch-vile. Again, the list is somewhat "hypothetical" so while one of her appearances is rendered moot by an in-fighting Cyberdemon and another is made easy by an Invincibility sphere, this is an attempt to look at them in a vacuum, or at least consider them all in apples-to-apples scenarios and environments. 3000 HP is part of what makes her so tough, and that damn "super" chaingun. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | @Pika - I like the idea of Icon of Sin, but wish there were more to the level, or at least more strategy involved in the fight, other than riding a platform up and sending a rocket over. As it stands, though, the level is a total son-of-a-bitch on Ultra-Violence difficulty (and this is primarily a difficulty-based list, to a large extent). |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | @brab m/ rock on man. I admittedly enjoy some of D2's level convolution. Or at least, I do prefer it to much of the mangled and joyless designs in "Inferno" and "Thy Flesh Consumed". |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Nice. Also fair enough. Archville I still have nightmares over the Plutonia maze. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | I could definitely concede to moving the Arch-viles up a spot or two. Definitely a Top 5 enemy any way you slice it. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | I wanna say it's DOOM II (but I forget which level) that has as room with, like, 20 Barons of Hell all facing a Cyberdemon like they're at an assembly hall and you can waltz in and just watch them fight for like 5 minutes and won't even notice you're there lol. Usually the Cyberdemon dies with maybe 4 or 5 Barons left - mighty impressive how many he takes care of on his own. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Only level in D2 I dont like is the obvious one. The Chasm. Fuck those tightrope ledges lol. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | @tectactoe Tricks and Traps I believe. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | The thing that makes the Vile so damn brutal is that if it starts resurrecting shit around it, it becomes a very tough target as it has a very broken hitscan attack. While you are busy blasting your way through the bodyguard gang, chances are you'll get zapped and take a fuckton of damage. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Archville is almost always priority number 1 when I see it. Only reason to keep one alive is if you're using Barney for the Red Key Skip. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | 'Tricks and Traps I believe.'
Yep that's the one.
The Chasm is evil but I also sort of hate The Pit, too. Fucking Lost Soul nightmare.
I believe the Arch-vile's attack, while having hitscan, also deals splash damage which is pretty brutal. |
osmark86
04.14.25 | Gotta play doom again damn |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Also, tec, pinkies and lost souls on the Nightmare difficulty are insane. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | I believe that, double speed is insane. I should've clarified (I mentioned it in a few blurbs but I'll add it to the main list description) that this ranking (and most of my DOOM opinions, really) are based solely on Ultra-Violence difficulty. I've only ever beat Knee Deep in the Dead on Nightmare and that was really only because I know the levels like the back of my hand. Nightmare is generally just 2brutal4me, especially in episodes that are just generally harder to begin with, like Thy Flesh Consumed. (The first two levels of that episode are fucking insane on UV, I can't imagine on Nightmare.)
Really I think the thing that I dislike most about it is not how crazy it can get, but the respawning. Just brutal. |
MTObsidian
04.14.25 | Absolutely baller list. I still play DOOM to this day, but I have tweaked it a bit with a rogue-lite mod, a visual mod, and a random map generator. Putting those together turns the old classic game into an open-ended game with fresh levels every time.
Also, fuck revenants--they are my most hated enemy. Just tough enough to usually get a shot off and deal way too much damage if you get hit. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Ah yes, Turbo Pinkies and Spectres. Nightmare almost feels like a completely different game. Hitscanners become the real threats on that difficulty. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Fighting revenants is always such a coinflip lmao
Roll the 80 damage rocket to the face and lose all hope |
mryrtmrnfoxxxy
04.14.25 | fuck the icon of sin |
mryrtmrnfoxxxy
04.14.25 | great list. classic doom is the best |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Thy Flesh Consumed for me is how most people view Final Doom. The level design in that episode is bullshit sometimes. |
MTObsidian
04.14.25 | Stupid skeletal asshats, why do they get the chance to delete your health completely with a homing projectile of all things? I murder them with utmost prejudice. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | E4M1 and E4M2 are insanely hard on higher difficulties, especially if you’re going for 100% kills. Ammo becomes a huge problem. Then, like, E4M4 is one of the easiest maps in the entire game. Just weird difficulty inconsistencies in that episode. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Thy Flesh Consumed is brilliant, but its first level can f off forever. You get practically no health, barely enough ammo to kill everything, and there's the easter egg NIN fight with barons that rewards you with f all. What the fuck. |
Hyperion1001
04.14.25 | I thought this was a calligyjack list tbh |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | E4M6 having the most annoying Cyberdemon in the series doesnt help. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | Yes, if you're unlucky, you'll teleport right in front of the guy, and he'll decimate you instantly. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | Yeah I forgot that there were no medikits in E4M1 either. I always try my darndest to get the Barons to infight with the Imps/Demons but they kill them so damn fast and you're stuck there still having to kill 5 Barons with a fucking pistol and like 2 rockets. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | My favourite episode in OG doom's gotta be The Shores. I love the corrupted base look and berserking everything is good fun. Also, e2m2's midi is iconic. |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | Yeah Shores is great. I never understood the flak that E2M2 gets. It is ammo depraved, for sure. But you get a Berserk pack right away. I'm pretty sure that's the level I used to get the "get 100% kills only using your fists" achievement (inadvertently). |
tectactoe
04.14.25 | Inferno is probably my least favorite from a level-design standpoint. E3M2 is fucking terrible and the designer should be ashamed. |
Pikazilla
04.14.25 | e3m7 is the worst
As a kid, I thought it was massive and kept getting lost in it
As an adult, I still got lost in it with its stupidass teleporter puzzle but chuckled at the enemy count. Your main problem there is the damaging floors everywhere, not the demon folk. |
s0nicx
04.14.25 | Honestly this thread makes me want to go back and finish getting the achievements for Doom 1+2 on steam. |
Gyromania
04.14.25 | Lots of work put into this list, big props.
Doom Eternal is my favourite Doom by a mile. Can’t wait for the new one |
Gyromania
04.14.25 | I would actually go as far as saying Eternal is the greatest fps game ever made |
Sharenge
04.14.25 | floaty one-eye tomato monster is 1 |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | @sonic - Not sure if Steam achievements are the same as the PS5 trophies but I’ve been trying to grab as many as I can along the way. Some are fun/easy (e.g. kill four enemies with a single super shotgun blast), some are tedious, a few are probably never gonna happen (like beating the whole game on Nightmare).
@Gyro, damn that’s some high praise. I played maybe the first ten minutes on Switch and stopped because of how shitty the controls felt, how crappy the game ran (dropping frames all the time), and how downgraded the graphics were. Totally want to give it another shot on the PS5 before the new one comes out. I loved DOOM 2016. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | @sharenge - Really? In terms of danger? Or just in terms of how much you like the monster? |
Sharenge
04.15.25 | how much i like monster |
s0nicx
04.15.25 | @tectactoe I dont think they are because there's no nightmare achievement on steam. There's one for beating a level on nightmare which is easy. Just play Hangar. Just did the Sigil and No Rest for the Living achievements. Only got the 4 Legacy of Rust achievements left. Also yeah, the Switch port of Eternal is rough (unsurprisingly tbh). Amazing game but it is best played on PC cause so much of its movement tech and weapon mechanics work best on M&K. |
Gyromania
04.15.25 | Tec — 2016 is a lot different from Eternal. It’s a lot more focused on the classic doom style and horror/atmosphere. Eternal is an intensely fast paced action shooter. It’s all about getting into a flow state and chaining massive combos together with quick weapon swapping and crazy traversal mechanics. Requires great spatial awareness and being able to adapt to every situation lightning fast. It’s overwhelming at times, but I’d say it has the highest skill ceiling of any Doom game by far. I love the franchise in general tho and I get why some people are partial to 2016 |
s0nicx
04.15.25 | Got them all. Man screw that Legacy of Rust pack. having literally 25 Archvilles behind the second to last door is beyond BS lol. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Well, I shall find out soon enough. The whole reason I’m replaying the classic DOOMs (this time) is to hype myself up for Eternal. Not gonna replay 2016, at least not now. But considering whether to revisit DOOM 3 right now or not. |
Pikazilla
04.15.25 | sonic, play Eviternity 1 and 2. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Is GZdoom still y’all’s preferred source port? |
Pikazilla
04.15.25 | that's what I use because it runs almost everything |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Okay nice. That's the one I have and have always used, but it has been well over a year since I fired it up. Maybe time to hop back on, never played the Eviternity WADs. |
s0nicx
04.15.25 | @pikazilla I might check it later. Kind of want to play the iwads to get back into the swing of things. Haven't seriously played Doom in years besides getting these achievements last night. |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | you sly bastards got me wanting to boot this shit up again...
I have to start at the beginning. DOOM 1 baby, here we go! |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | What kind of run you going for? 100%? Or speed run? Perhaps both? |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | neither, just playing the damn game
people don't do that anymore I guess, lol |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | I did spend a disproportionately large amount of time trying to find all the hidden parts of the maps aka "secrets" (usually, but also helps to get 100% kills in some instances) back in the day and I was surprisingly awful at it
I reckon it'll be possible that my memory-banks have preserved some of those finds, but not sure I really want to dip into discovering them properly, all over again. We'll see I guess |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Yeah there are some that are ingrained into my memory. There are (many) others of which I had to google/YouTube their location and I wondered to myself "how the fuck would anybody ever find this / think to do this?"
Part of the fun, I suppose, but 100% secrets without hints, guides, or cheats is insane. At least in any episode of KDitD (and even that has a few extremely well hidden ones). |
FrozenFirebug
04.15.25 | mancubus = best projectile enemy and cause of all projectile-related deaths on actually hard custom maps
second place is agitated skeleton |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Yeah Mancubuses can be devastating is certain scenarios. Many of their appearances in DOOM II are (fortunately?) in somewhat favorable circumstances e.g. that level with the big square room - you've got four nice pillars to hide/flank with, and 4 of the Mancubuses won't even leave their pedestal (as long as you don't hit the switches). |
s0nicx
04.15.25 | Last night I also got really unlucky cause I kept getting guided missile ticks for Revenants. |
Pikazilla
04.15.25 | There's art to dodging revenant rockets.
Mancubus's attack, on the other hand, is simply all about learning the pattern.
Tec, I believe you're talking about Dead Simple. Iconic map. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Yep, love the carnage. Have never struggled much with taking down the Mancubuses, though, as long as you clear out the free-walking ones quickly. I have more trouble with the Arachnotrons that are released afterwards. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | I do love the little text blurb that comes up before Dead Simple, too. |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | nerds |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | anyway… I downloaded I & II, looking forward to getting my arse pounded by hell’s finest once again |
Futures
04.15.25 | somewhat unrelated but doom 3 is amazing. such a killer atmosphere and legit terrifying. like a precursor to dead space, the horror approach is spot on. i love having to use the flashlight by itself. makes things so much more challenging and scary. you had to smartly use your ammo too. played it a ton when i was like 12 lol. even played some of the multiplayer which was a blast back then. one of the most underappreciated games ever in my book, it was ahead of it's time. good times. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Yeah I'd like to play it now with a fresh set of eyes and tempered expectations. I was definitely disappointed (at first) because I was so accustomed to the traditional DOOM playstyle of run, gun, 'n' blow shit up. I did come to appreciate it by the end, though. (This was around 20 years ago at this point, ca. mid-2000s.) However, I'll never forgive the terrible art direction of the Lost Souls in that game. |
Demon of the Fall
04.15.25 | I already said the precursor to Dead Space thing but yes agreed (2) |
Gyromania
04.15.25 | Doom 3 has great atmosphere but Idk, I think it holds up maybe the worst of the Doom games. Doom is all about the Doom dance, and 3 was a lot more oriented in horror |
vult
04.15.25 | icon of sin is ..... iconic |
Futures
04.15.25 | ah didn’t even see that demon lol great minds!
but yeah for sure worth a fresh evaluation, not doom really so i get the disappointment but honestly its more interesting and ahead of its time. i may just binge the doom games now lol
|
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Never a bad time to play DOOM.
I remember my dad buying it for me from Blockbuster. Our first-ever "family computer" could barely handle it. Didn't even have internet. Came on 3 or 4 gray floppy disks. What a time to be alive! |
Futures
04.15.25 | ah man good memories. you're a bit older then me but i loved renting a video game for the weekend. just core memories that aren't around anymore which is sad. sure we get unlimited access to everything but there was something special.
i played doom 3 on my dad's office computer haha. remember when families used to have the computer room? what a nostalgic trip this thread has been. |
tectactoe
04.15.25 | Dude yes. The dawn of the home computer era was magical. We were (seemingly) one of the last households to get internet so I remember trading snacks in my lunch for other kids that had internet/Napster to burn me CDs 😭 |
FrozenFirebug
04.16.25 | Doom 3 is good if you play on Veteran, and modify the enemy damage scale by 2.06x to match Nightmare, then halve all your ammo pickup values, and make the Soul Cube require more kills to charge (7 is a good balance).
Completely changes the scope of the game and makes it actually scary really.
Normal Veteran = Pitifully easy, nothing can kill you except maybe a Hell Knight projectile.
Normal Nightmare = You can incidentally die to anything when your health is drained, but also you get free heals and free kills constantly with the cube being handed to you from the get-go.
RoE was my favorite game as a kid until its boss fight bricked my Dimension 2400. Now in retrospect I realize it wasn't that great of an expansion gameplay wise - you can spend the entirety of the game literally invincible with the Artifact if you want.
Funny how time and experience change your perspective on things. When you're young it's all about the spectacle and the interactivity. When you learn how things work, it's about the mix of challenge and engaging game design. Barrels o Fun was my favorite map when I was a toddler cause of the funny explosions, but that's probably only because my dad taught me all the cheat codes and I had godmode and a bunch of BFG ammo and didn't really care about gameplay. It isn't nearly as fun playing it for real on a pistol start lol. Not hard, just annoying with a miserably weird flow to things. |
MTObsidian
04.16.25 | tec, I hope you have a good time with Eternity. I had the opposite experience from most people: loved 2016 but found Eternity a bit too chaotic for my taste. I really didn't like how limited you were on supplies and how it forced you to do glory kills and such to just stay stocked up. I think I'm in the minority though, so you'll probably really like it.
I'll never forget my first encounter with DOOM 3: I was at one of those computer LAN arcades where you pay by the hour or whatever and a bunch of us younger kids were crowded around some dude playing 3 on a Gateway computer. Way too scary for me back then but I love that game now. Best chaingun in the series in my opinion, it just felt so beefy. |
tectactoe
04.16.25 | It's been so long since I've played 2016 (got it on release day, beat it immediately, played online multiplayer for several months, have not played it since) that I won't have too much of a comparative bias when playing Eternal (don't plan to replay 2016 beforehand). I do, however, remember thinking Glory Kills were a tad gimmicky even in 2016, and eventually started foregoing them just to speed things up and skip having to see the same death animations over and over again lol.
My memories of DOOM 3 are tied to my parent's basement (I would've been about...14 or 15 at the time?); that's where the "good" computer in the house was at the time (and even then it barely had the specs to play the game properly). Played it late at night in the dark, definitely added to the atmosphere/mood. Would stay up until 3 a.m. then limp over to the pull-out couch/bed and sleep in. Good times. |
Demon of the Fall
04.16.25 | I played DOOM 3 on the og Xbox. The vast majority of my gaming memories are console related. The original DOOM(s) were on our PS1
I can't recall ever having a PC capable. I mean my bro attempted to play Halo online on the PC for a while (years later) and man it was slow as molasses. I imagine DOOM 3 when it dropped was similarly "advanced" unless you had more up-to-date specs
The only PC gaming I did was when I was even younger and we had an Amstrad. Anaconda, Dizzy, Frogger et al. OR later on old Championship Manager lol (god I was obsessed with that and your PC didn't need the oomph, especially graphically, as the requirements were almost non-existent). |
tectactoe
04.16.25 | 90% of my junior high and high school years were dedicated to Counter-Strike 1.6. I'd have no actual way of knowing this, but if I were forced to guess, I'd say CS1.6 is the game I've spent the most actual hours of my life playing. The beauty was that it ran pretty well even on older computers so it was perfect. |
botb
04.16.25 | Ok deep cut here, anyone ever play any of the turn based doom and wolfenstein rpgs ID did for mobile with the og graphic style? Don’t think you can find them on the app stores anymore but they were so sick. I think somebody ported them to PC |
tectactoe
04.16.25 | Yes! Not Wolfenstein but I had and played both Doom games. They reminded me of those old pokemon master dungeon games…but with DOOM lol. Indeed those were great, thanks for unlocking that core memory ! |
botb
04.16.25 | Played through the doom ones many times before iOS didn’t support them anymore. Really awesome games |
MTObsidian
04.16.25 | Oh my god, I had that turn-based DOOM RPG on my first old LG flip phone waaaayyy back in the day. It was such a great game--frustrating at times but I loved it. What a blast from the past! |
botb
04.16.25 | Real talk, maybe some of the best phone games ever made. So fun |
MTObsidian
04.16.25 | The damn Lost Souls in that game were the worst. They could move like 5 spaces and had 3 attacks! You'd get surrounded from killing a Pain Elemental and then just die. |
tectactoe
04.16.25 | Lost Souls are truly the worst (in all DOOM iterations). |
s0nicx
04.17.25 | Doom 64 Lost Souls are legitimately broken. Because of their extra animation frames they are way more aggressive and will attack like a nightmare enemy. Add on the fact they are even faster when charging in that game and the Pain Elemental suddenly becomes priority number 1 when you see one.
Did I mention Lost Souls actually produce the most powerful explosion in Doom 64 when they die? And that the explosion will always one shot you if you try and prevent their spawn? |
tectactoe
04.17.25 | That sounds terrible. Lost Souls are annoying enough in classic DOOM, who needs to deal with that garbage too?
On another note, anybody happen to have this "DOOM + DOOM II" package that was released last year on consoles? Looks like it's available for PS5 and comes with a lot of the additional WADs (like the Final Doom ones, as well as No Rest, Sigil 1 & 2, Legacy of Rust), and APPARENTLY you can download other mods/WADs as well?? Though I am skeptical of the compatibility with the console version, as I'm not sure what source port they are using.
Anybody know more about this? |
s0nicx
04.17.25 | Its based off a unity build that was made a few years ago. Its basically a combination of the most popular and official wads for doom. Its mechanically a bit different what with actually being able to look up and down for one. Haven't tried it on consoles. My guess is the main wads work 100%. The custom wads they have available to download probably also work since they work on the PC version. |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | I downloaded that exact version after being inspired by this list, tect! I only really "wanted" DOOM 1 & 2, so was pleasantly surprised by all the extras. I've played some of the additional levels (TNT / Plutonia, from memory) before, yet some are completely new to me.
I started a new playthrough from the very beginning though. Taking it slow and only 6 maps deep, but I'm enjoying it a lot. Playing on Ultra-violence (Nightmare can do one). It's weird being able to save the game in the middle of a level (seems daft so I shall not). |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | Yes, I just played through older ports of "DOOM" and "DOOM II" (separately) before noticing there was an enhanced/combined version. Naturally, it was only $4.99 on the PS5 marketplace so I bought it anyway and it's honestly temping to play through the games again. As much as I love the classic DOOM music, I really like the updated/enhanced soundtrack they added for this version. I am also excited to play through some of the mods that I never got a chance to in the past (e.g. SIGIL & SIGIL II) and it has been forever since I've played the Final DOOM episodes (Plutonia & TNT) so it'll be awesome to check those again. The "new" (?) episode looks pretty ballin', too (Legacy of Rust); I quickly played through the first map just to check it out and the upgraded graphical design is really nice.
Re save scrubbing. I am a shameless abuser. I will try to resist doing it at level starts only. But if I trigger an ambush and escape by the skin of my teeth, damned right I save. I don't have the time nor energy to go through that shit again 😂 |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | admittedly I might crack once I hit the tougher levels. DOOM levels are mercifully short, so it just seemed daft (and also, not doing so is in-keeping with the classic feel). I was ambushed and surrounded on E1M5, which resulted in an untimely death, but it only took a couple of minutes to restart and return to the same point (with a better strategy).
I am taking it quite slowly though. Looking for secrets. I'm playing in a careful (read: fearful) way when entering new areas, which adds to the nostalgia from when I was a kid amusingly, lol |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | Yeah E1 is a blip. (A great blip, but a blip nonetheless.) I swear I could navigate those levels in my sleep at this point. Guess that's what having a shareware copy of DOOM in 1996 does to a mf.
Not sure I'd have had the patience / stamina / fortitude to get through "Thy Flesh Consumed" on Ultra-Violence without a little save scrubbing. Especially those first two levels, absolutely brutal. I think E3 (Inferno) is my least favorite of classic DOOM's four "main" episodes. Pika might be right when he said E2 was the best. E1 is certainly the most canonized / nostalgic / etc. but E2's level design is probably superior. Plus, the Cyberdemon final boss >>> 2x Hell Knights. |
brickhed
04.22.25 | yeah this list got me to actually play OG doom again
i fucking hate it when theres a ton of pinkys with partial invisibility, lost souls bug me nowhere near pinkys do
i forgot i had the chainsaw most of the time in ep 1 and i haven't found it in ep 2 so a bit of a fail on my part |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | there’s an annoying flashing light / darkness + spectre (translucent pinky) combo on one of the first maps (also, exploding barrels)
I missed the goggles until I was nearly done… there are some |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | Yes. Used to hate this level as a young lad but know it too well to be truly bothered by it anymore (at least beyond the regular level of 'where tf is that damn spectre' annoyance). |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | Also brick: Chainsaw in second Map (most annoying map in E2 imo, the one with the damn UAC box labyrinth). In the area with the crushing pillars you can sneak behind one of them for the chainsaw. (I only know this so confidently because I just played through this Episode a couple weeks ago lol.) |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | update: already abandoned not saving mid-level lol
I mean if you can complete the “first half” of a level (or whatever) fine, why do it all over again if you die? Tedium personified. Weak? Maybe. But I’m not a kid anymore. No-one has the time or inclination for that shit and the game is only gonna get tougher from here |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | This is the way 🙏
At the end of the day, video games are about having fun. As much as I love the game, it is not fun to re-do a bunch of shit I already did ten minutes prior simply because an entire wall of Pain Elementals and Hell Knights opened up after I grabbed a blue key. |
botb
04.22.25 | If you guys haven’t played Prodeus, check that out. Feels like OG doom with modern updates and a bunch more guns and shit like double jump |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | Prodeus rocks. It’s a fun homage to the style. Some of the level design can get a tad repetitive or uninspiring once you’ve been playing for a while honestly, but I did have fun for a while |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | Screen shots look pretty cool.
Unrelated, but does anyone remember Starsiege: Tribes? Another online FPS I played the shit out of as a kid lol. |
FrozenFirebug
04.22.25 | prodeus is a great game ruined by the fact you can just die your way to victory, since enemies don't respawn after you respawn
if you die at all, you are permanently locked out of getting the full experience of triumphing over a fight, and have to restart the whole level then work your way back if you want to feel like you actually won
for some reason they never rectified this even though it shouldn't be too hard to |
Demon of the Fall
04.22.25 | yeah, that was definitely a stupid aspect of Prodeus, lol |
MTObsidian
04.22.25 | Holy shit tec, I used to play so much Tribes 2 back in the day. Except I was a massive loser with no internet connection so all I ever played against was bots. But I would play for hours on end.
It's a shame Hi-Rez dropped Tribes: Ascend on its head to make way for Smite. Ascend was legitimately an awesome game and pretty faithful to the old Tribes feel. Now it's a husk of a game and their newest iteration is pretty mid, from what I've heard. |
tectactoe
04.22.25 | "Shazbot!"
I never made it past the first one (Starsiege) but man, I had a lot of fun with it. I think I kind of "migrated" to CS1.6 at some point and never really looked back. (IIRC, I briefly played one of the games on console but it just didn't feel the same as on PC, so I abandoned it quickly.) But my fond memories of Tribes live on. |
Demon of the Fall
05.04.25 | stupid Q but I forget things…
why does E1 seem to “end” and the game recommends you play E2 next, yet E1M9 is a thing (with none of your previous weapons? 😢)
I’m confused. I wonder if they expanded “Knee Deep” later on (or something). I just started E2M1 as instructed. |
Sharenge
05.04.25 | I don't know but godspeed enjoy hell |
Demon of the Fall
05.04.25 | Cheers. Demons feel right at home after all |
tectactoe
05.04.25 | Demon - each episode has a “secret” level that you need to access via a hidden exit in an earlier level. E1M9 is accessed through a secret exit in E1M3. Then once you complete E1M9, you’d move on to E1M4. |
botb
05.04.25 | Also played a bunch of tribes 2 with bots |
Sharenge
05.04.25 | so many secret |
Demon of the Fall
05.04.25 | ooh, that makes sense now tect. So gaining access naturally (i.e. not via the manual level select) it would’ve occurred between E3 and E4 if I’d found this secret exit. Good to know.
Yes, I could’ve looked this up, but asking here felt more fulfilling and in-keeping with old school discovery via word of mouth (sort of “mouth” anyway lol) |
MTObsidian
05.04.25 | @botb let's gooo, good stuff |
tectactoe
05.05.25 | I'm like just under halfway through DOOM Eternal's main campaign right now. Not quite as blissfully enamored as some (i.e., not ready to crown it as my favorite DOOM game, even, at least not yet), but indeed it is a fantastic game and from what my dusty memory can recall, I do prefer it to DOOM 2016 (and I thought that game was great).
The dependence on glory kills really doesn't irk me as much as I thought it would. In fact, my boomer-ass kind of likes the very small but very crucial moment of respite they can provide when you're in the middle of a massive firefight. Just enough time to catch your breath. Only thing that perturbs me is when e.g. a Cacodemon is flashing but floating beyond the edge of a cliff and initiating the glory kill essentially positions you to immediately fall - like, c'mon, just reset me back to where I was before I did it.
Don't really mind the chainsaw mechanic that much either - just represents another tool/resource of which to be mindful. And honestly sometimes it's a bit of a relief knowing that you can blow through an entire stash of ammunition because you'll be able to get a lot of it back with a single chainsaw kill.
The super-shotgun really elevated the game for me - I already thought it was damn good but having that meat hook + the slow-motion rune feels sooooo damn good, flying through the air in half-speed, blowing someone's face off with a super shotgun pump, then quick-swapping to a rocket and launching it in the distance before my feet hit the ground. |
brickhed
05.05.25 | beat doom 1 and thankfully pinkie spam was not as big of a deal as it was in my last post. the spider mastermind was by far the easiest boss, just needed to slowly take care of the other high tier enemies and then spam the plasma rifle until it died.
gonna get to doom 2 soon, i'm just real busy as of right now. i have the zip file downloaded. |
Demon of the Fall
05.06.25 | Fast work brick, nice. I'm barely halfway through episode 2. I can't tell you how much time I have spent (mostly 'wasted') refusing to exit the current map until I've sought out all the secrets I may have missed (especially if my 'stocks' are less than ideal). |
MTObsidian
05.06.25 | @tec Glad you're liking that one so much, my man! It really is a fantastic game. I think I've realized in recent years that I'm more of a slow-speed player when it comes to games, so that's why Eternal didn't fire on all cylinders for me. I like to waltz my way through stuff like a tank rather than fly through like a fighter jet.
Great example of this is Dark Souls versus Sekiro. I love the Dark Souls games a ton (DS3 being one of like two games I've ever gotten 100% achievements for), but the speed requirement for Sekiro kneecapped me so fast that I got completely stuck at the first(?) boss, the Chained Ogre, and gave up. DS3 is pretty forgiving with slower playstyles and I was able to maximum-bonk my way through that game with the Great Mace with gleeful satisfaction. |
Demon of the Fall
05.06.25 | hmm it seems E2:M5 may be the first true test. Tried to blaze through without killing much due to a lack of ammo this first time, lol
I replayed the previous stage with the same avoidance tactics and managed to preserve more ammo. Let’s see how it goes next time |
tectactoe
05.06.25 | Episode 2 can be very ammo tight early on. The key I've learned over time is to immediately run to the berserk pack in E2M2 and try your best to beat the level without using any ammo. The only enemies in the map are imps, demons, and a few scant lost souls, so this isn't as bad as it seems. But on higher difficulties there are so many enemies that you'll quickly blow through your ammo just killing them all. You'll do much better over the next few levels if you save your shells.
Also (spoiler alert----- maybe!) ↓↓↓↓
That is the E2 level that has the episode's secret exit (leading to E2M9). |
Demon of the Fall
05.06.25 | Ooh. Yeah, I historically hate the berserk power-up on higher difficulties (or just generally), because my depth perception is poor and I either whiff completely or get too close at the wrong time and sustain damage lol
On my 2nd attempt of M5 I’m starting with pretty much only shotgun ammo, but I do have 35(?)ish shells, so hopefully I can work with that
I don’t mind the spoiler, thanks! |
Demon of the Fall
05.07.25 | and I remember that map, I DID try and berserk before abandoning ship (restarting) because I was taking too much damage. That map has a lot of imps and bountiful tight corners, so it does make sense to attempt punching through them if you can
I hope this doesn't make the rest of this episode next to impossible for a man of my questionable skill lol (not sure I want to re-do it from M2 again either) |
Pikazilla
05.07.25 | e2m5's secret exit is obnoxiouly hidden
but e2m9 is some notorious bullshit in and of itself |
tectactoe
05.07.25 | when in doubt, idkfa lol |
Demon of the Fall
05.12.25 | lol my adult self if chuckling at how damn scary this Cyberdemon fella seemed back in the day, the dude used to proper make me jump
I swear it’s a lot smaller than I remember too |
brickhed
05.12.25 | yeah doom 2 is easily kicking my ass much more than doom one
each level is taking me half an hour and i'm usually at 60% health, unless i find a good secret. ammo is also getting much more tight. i think i'm around halfway through ep 1, i gotta check.
levels are also getting more labyrinth like. usually i miss that a switch pulls down something for 10 seconds and end up wandering for a long while until i find it again.
my take on berzerk is that i just use it as an easy way to get to 100%. my hits usually whiff and i take more damage than if i just switch to the shotgun or something and get right back to killing. |
Demon of the Fall
05.12.25 | so you’re saying it’s good for speed running, but not for preserving health? Makes sense. Of course you preserve ammo too.
E2M7 of DOOM 1 was the first time I’ve made really good use of the chainsaw. Felt almost cheap to just stand at the entrance to a room and kill like ten pinkys, lol. One by one, no chance to get me from the back or side etc.
The room had an Invulnerability and it wasn’t necessary, so I used it for next section (M6 was way tougher tbh, probably M5 as well). |
brickhed
05.12.25 | yeah i'm on dead simple for doom 2. i know there's a certain strategy for it but i'm a bit stuck. might just brute force it until i find a good strategy myself like i typically do. |
Demon of the Fall
05.12.25 | I’m gonna get my ass beaten when I finally get to DOOM 2. I’m so sloooooooow. Being proper careful but still struggled a bit on a couple of sections in E2. Haven’t put a lot of time in overall mind. Enjoying it though. |
tectactoe
05.12.25 | brickhed - What's the main issue you're having? Ammo? Or just staying alive? Main strategy is to take care of the Manucbuses on the low ground first as they can move around. Then the ones on the raised platforms (since they can't move). Need to use the four pillars in the corners of the stage as a wall to hide behind. Pop out, fire a couple rockets, rinse and repeat. Been a minute since I played but I think (?) three well-placed rockets can take down a Manc.
Once they're all dead, the outer doors open and the Arachnotrons come out - really the strategy here is to just keep moving. Hold the run button down and circle the stage, weave in and out of the outer wall when you have the opportunity to do so. And just take shots at whatever Arachnos you see while you're doing that. I find that the plasma gun works pretty well on those guys, if you have ammo. (Rockets are always good too but much harder to aim well when you're circling and running plus you might get yourself with splash damage.)
Takes a bit but eventually you'll kill a few and get them down to a more manageable amount and it's just a matter of cleaning up. Their plasma attack is pretty easy to avoid - the problem is that at first there are so many that you're getting shot at from, like, all angles, which is why you just need to keep moving and doing drive-bys lol. |
brickhed
05.12.25 | i figured out the mancubus strat pretty quickly but the disappointment i felt when doors lowered to a ton of arachnotrons
i just left one mancubus alive so i can get the loot to deal with the spiders
i haven't used the running mechanic much so looks like i'll be getting used to it. |
tectactoe
05.12.25 | Also, I'm getting pretty stoked at all the Dark Ages footage coming out. I really want to finish Eternal before I get TDA, though, so I need to hurry my ass up. I think I'm around halfway through? Maybe a tad more? I believe I just started Mission 9. (Last thing I did was beat that Gladiator boss guy with the shield.) |
brickhed
05.13.25 | tricks and traps is actually not that bad of a level most of the time. mowing down an entire army of imps with the double barrel while listening to bdm really hits different.
also "you can dodge their plasma attacks easily" do not apply when there are tank controls. i do appreciate the effort. |
tectactoe
05.13.25 | I'll admit the strafe running takes a minute to get the hang of, but once you do, it's pretty easy (imo) to execute fast sweeping circles while remaining facing your target. Granted, it's significantly easier with a keyboard + mouse than a controller, but still plenty doable. I was weaned on DOOM, though, so maybe I'm just very very used to tank controls overall. |
brickhed
05.13.25 | yeah i just don't strafe which plays into the difficulty. makes cacodemon blasts a bit harder to dodge and the like. but it's an enjoyable challenge for me, not like its unbeatable without it. |
Demon of the Fall
05.13.25 | Ugh, this Slough of Despair level (E3M2) is aptly named lol. E3M1 has virtually no decent ammo to bring forward that I could lay my mitts on (might have to check again and see if I missed anything!)
Doing (almost) the whole thing with the shotty seems rough. I have a chaingun but the ammo is scarce. Found a rocket launcher but it doesn’t seem particularly viable here (plus it comes with like 2 rockets anyway). |
tectactoe
05.13.25 | Ah okay, yes, classic DOOM without strafing definitely presents a handicap.
From earlier:
E3M2 is fucking terrible and the designer should be ashamed. [2] |
brickhed
05.13.25 | also i said tricks and traps wasn't that bad before i opened a door to a baron of hell army and a supercharge in the middle. |
Pikazilla
05.13.25 | the only cool thing about e3m2 is its hand-shaped automap |
Demon of the Fall
05.13.25 | Is it sticking up a middle finger at the player?
(by rights it should be ‘devil’s horns’ tho) |
brickhed
05.15.25 | i don't mind lost souls but pain elementals are really something else. before the pit lost souls were never an issue until they become a gremlin that hides and attacks before you can react. with ammo so scarce you'd be a fool wasting precious ammo on them, so i chainsaw em. same goes for pain elementals because fuck them too they get the pinky treatment |
brickhed
05.15.25 | dealing with a mancubus with one shotgun shell, these are sad times
or this level is just incredibly large with stingy ammo and loads of high tier enemies and armies of imps. |
Demon of the Fall
05.15.25 | realised E3M2 is easy to cheese by bypassing most of the action
What a stupid map tho, you were right tect
Whatever your playing sounds horrendous brick, which DOOM II map is that? |
brickhed
05.15.25 | MAP09, The Pit
jesus christ there's around 30 levels and the devs are absolutely brutal right out of the gate
not sure when i'll just run out of patience and give up, sadistic level design really does tend to pad the game out |
JayEnder
05.15.25 | Picked up Dark Ages on a whim. Excited to try it out when I get home from work tonight. I've heard good things but that the dragon/mech sections are awful.
Also incredibly entertaining list tec! Cacodemon is my favorite in terms of iconic design. Annoying ass flying meatballs lol |
s0nicx
05.15.25 | I'm currently going through Doom 2016 on nightmare. And other than one level constantly crashing on me, its been really enjoyable so far.
|
tectactoe
05.15.25 | I love the city levels in DOOM II (like Map 12 through ~ maybe like 20 or 21?). I think they received a lot of flak back when DOOM II first came out. They still might. But I think they're really cool. |
brickhed
05.15.25 | yeah people still give the city levels a hard time like it wasn't before blood, duke nukem, and shadow warrior |
brickhed
05.15.25 | also i'm so fucking done with the pit that i'm just going to enable god mode, i hate this level. |
s0nicx
05.19.25 | Just finished Doom 2016 on nightmare. Did all of the secrets, challenges, upgrades, suit points, combat rating, collectibles and data logs.
Was my first time ever beating the game too. |
tectactoe
05.19.25 | brickhed - yeah, wouldn't go so far as to say I 'hate' that level (or any DII level, honestly) but it's definitely one of the more tedious ones. Especially that room with the stupid lift stairs. |
tectactoe
05.19.25 | @sonic nice - Doom 2016 was one of the only ones I ever beat on Nightmare (my usual difficulty of choice is UV). I didn't get all the secrets or collectables on my Nightmare playthrough, though, not even close. So BIG props for that.
|
tectactoe
05.19.25 | Rank of enemies from ONLY Doom Eternal:
Zombie
Mecha Zombie
Imp
Soldier (blaster)
Gargoyle
Soldier (shield)
Lost Soul
Mancubus
Maykr Drone
Cacodemon
Carcass
Arachnotron
Prowler
Pain Elemental
Whiplash
Pinky / Spectre
Cyber-Mancubus
Revenant
Hell Knight
Doom Hunter
Dread Knight
Baron of Hell
Marauder
Tyrant
Arch-Vile
Archies in this game are just absurdly stupid and annoying. Not only does it retain its fiery attack, but it acts like a living buff totem - it "boosts" the power of all nearby enemies. Oh and instead of simply resurrecting dead enemies, it simply summons new ones. So, if you don't kill the Arch-Vile right away, it will keep fucking flooding the room with new enemies, which can include fucking Tyrants and Marauders and shit. Plus - he can teleport! So even when you find him and are able to get off a nice shot, he might teleport across the fucking arena and now you gotta find his ass again, wading through a tsunami of new enemies he fucking summoned on the way.
Fuck Arch-Viles. |
s0nicx
05.19.25 | @tectactoe Thanks. But also the Archvile appears like 6 times throughout Doom Eternal so thankfully its not Awful. And you only have to fight it twice without the crucible. Sidenote, why 3 of those 7 times are on Taras Nabad, I will never know (I'm of the opinion that besides the early game RNG BS of Cultist Base, Taras Nabad is the worst level in the game anyway. That secret encounter in the courtyard area can absolutely go fuck itself lol) |
s0nicx
05.19.25 | Also the Whiplash on Nightmare fucking *sucks*. Does way too much damage and can Wombo-Combo you from across the arena if RNGsus looks unfavorably on you. |
tectactoe
05.19.25 | True, the Arch-Vile is thankfully not terribly common, but I'm almost certain I died at least one for just about every encounter. Mostly because I had no idea it was in the room until I started getting swarmed with tons of red, glowing enemies and I'm like "oh fuck I better go find that damn thing" only for him to teleport as soon as I figured out where he was.
I am pretty much forced to use meathook + slow motion rune on the Whiplashes - they just move too damn fast for me to reliably hit with anything else. Other than maybe lock-on rockets, but I prefer saving those for bigger HP enemies (hell knights, barons, pinkies). |
Demon of the Fall
05.19.25 | this (slow) old man is still on E3M4(?) og DOOM and hasn’t even played Eternal lol
see y’all in 2027 when I can offer my perspective |
tectactoe
05.19.25 | I will have a list of ranked enemies from The Dark Ages by that point ! |
tectactoe
05.20.25 | 'Khan Maykr' in Eternal was one of the lamest boss fights ever. Maybe even lamer than the gladiator a few missions back (when you consider how much more...uh..."epic" this boss is supposed to be).
Three lock-on rocket bursts to stun Khan, meat hook up to them and blood punch. Repeat x5. The Makyr drones can be easily headshot'd with the precision bolt trick (quick scope with the cursor near their head and it autosnaps, then fire) which drops a shit ton of ammo and health. Ground gets progressively engulfed in damaging fire but not enough that it becomes too problematic.
Was really let down with how easy it was. |
brickhed
05.20.25 | downloaded gz doom finally and found out that saves are not saved like that, which means i need to restart
which honestly is fine, i was at downtown. plus making the game being more playable is a good upside for everything. |
tectactoe
05.21.25 | wait what were you previously playing on? |
brickhed
05.21.25 | I was using dosbox |
tectactoe
05.21.25 | Finally finished Eternal last night. Overall: Great game. As I might've mentioned elsewhere, I can see how the "gameplay loop" would start to get a little enervating - I think the game ends at precisely the right time. Were it any longer, it would've begun to feel like a drag. But I love the way the game slowly introduces you to new techniques, mechanics, weapons, upgrades, enemies, etc., because the despite the sheer number of tools and things at your disposal, getting a handle on them never feels too overwhelming (my only gripe is that I constantly forgot how to switch between Frags and Ice Bombs). The reliance on glory kills for health and chainsaw kills for ammo didn't bother me as much as I thought it would - in fact, I do think the glory kills offer a very slight but very important "break" from the fast-paced action, often giving you juuuuust enough time to get your bearings and think about your next move.
Boss battles were underwhelming. Even the final boss, Icon of Sin, was a visual marvel but honestly incredibly easy. Like, there are at least two battles/fights in the final level that are harder than the actual boss battle itself.
After maybe about halfway the level design started feeling repetitive. The "platforming" is kind of a joke. It's never that difficult and often just feels pointless, like having to double jump and double dash over to a climbable wall. Like...why? I like the swing bars in the middle of a big battle, though.
Overall, great game. I haven't played DOOM 2016 since...well, 2016. So it'd be hard/useless for me to try and make a direct comparison based on decade-old memories. But I loved Doom Eternal, more so than I anticipated I would based on what I'd heard about it beforehand. |
brickhed
05.24.25 | beat doom 2
took about 6 and a half hours, could scrape off probably 40 minutes to an hour from backtracking.
in short: doom 2 has pros and cons. for one, there are serious level design problems, mainly in more ambitious level design. the levels are too big and expansive to reasonably know what to do in a first playthrough. i would love the city levels if not for this. as Civvie 11 once put it: "if you need a huge arrow to guide the player, the level is not well designed." seriously did they not playtest the game or something? if not the unreasonably huge levels, then its extremely cryptic puzzles. what do you mean i have to shoot a random texture to open the exit? fuck you. this happens way too much to brush off.
all of Episode 1 is really tight, though. It tries being big but not to the point of getting lost. the second and third episodes take a quick turn downhill, though. The Factory is an exception. Very pleasant level that's just hard enough and difficult to get lost in.
also, the game suffers a bit from its sadistic design at times. i mostly mean pain elementals. i never found lost souls a problem until the devs started shoving these damn things in closets like its nobody's business. Archviles are respectfully placed for how infamously hard they are, and i'm glad it was not done like the pain elementals. They must have had a rule when making the game, and it makes it that much better.
overall, i had little problem ammo or health wise. i played on ultra violence, and they are pretty generous when it comes to the two, other than a few levels. my first FPS like this was Blood, so i was fully expecting traps when high level items were placed all over, but it rarely happened. maybe the trauma has made me expect such things, but its cool.
probably would be much harder if i didn't try to 100% everything as much as i could. spent a lot of the time backtracking accidentally finding secrets.
overall, very mixed feels as one does. it does warrant replayability, but the flaws are very much so. at it's core its still doom.
final score: 3.5/5
standout levels: all of Episode 1 (excluding The Pit), The Factory
(ps, gotcha with the cyberdemon/spider mastermind fight wouldn't work half of the time and would just attack me, other than that its decent.)
(psps, fuck the chasm, i really don't think most of these levels were playtested due to shit like that.) |
brickhed
05.25.25 | now onto the plutonia experiment, wish me luck bros |
tectactoe
05.25.25 | Fair assessment, despite disagreeing with your points re level design. In fact, it’s not even that I disagree, necessarily, I think I just find those things features rather than flaws (for the *most* part), especially when it comes to the city levels. Are they perfect? No way. But i love love love what they tried to do and ultimately what they did accomplish with them, the non linearity and inherently exploratory nature never bothered me. I always found it kind of “fun” having to remember which “buildings” I’d already been in or which ones had locked paths I’d eventually have to return to.
I think much of my favor toward DOOM II’s design has a lot to do with the amount in which I played original DOOM. I don’t think I can overstate it, really. Our family computer at the time had no internet (ca. mid 90s). Only games it had were solitaire, minesweeper, and DOOM. I played the shit out of that game for nearly five years until I got bored of it. Eventually, knowing the levels like the back of your hand has diminishing returns. When I finally played DOOM II for the first time, several years after it was actually released, I was blown away. Instantly in love. That infatuation has never fully worn off, I guess.
Either way - glad you finished it and (mostly) enjoyed it! Plutonia Experiment is a ton of fun, but also occasionally frustrating. Godspeed when you get to Level 11 🙂 |
Pikazilla
05.25.25 | I agree with brickhed regarding Doom 2 level design. Main reason was they were on a really tight schedule and Sandy Petersen had to do most of the legwork.
Plutonia rules and is probably my favourite official full package Doom experience. The combat design had set an influential precedent for the modding scene that came about later. |
tectactoe
05.25.25 | DOOM II is still the king for me. Then maybe E2 of classic DOOM. I do really like the SIGIL 1 & 2 levels also. |
brickhed
05.25.25 | yeah Congo by itself is a super tight yet a good display for what I assume is to come. It shows some of its favorite tricks and traps. Archviles, while more prominent, are NOT just placed in monster closets. A significant jump in difficulty but ive had worse. It doesn't seem like Heretic, that's for sure. |
brickhed
05.25.25 | Also I really liked Suburbs but the way to find the exit is so cryptic that I had to dock points. My favorite of the city levels, that's for sure.
Downtown had a lot of potential, I feel. Honestly the fact that they only had 10 months to make doom 2 is kinda sad, it has a solid foundation and could have been fantastic. but as is its pretty good mostly, just not great like doom 1 is.
but if you want a level that really grinds my gears other than the chasm, try barrels o fun. the pain elemental problem is tenfold and i hate the first half of it. the second half is pretty cool, though. |
brickhed
05.30.25 | yeah about Hunted
first off, super cool idea for a map. being hunted down by 18 archviles in a claustrophobic maze? now thats a cool idea. the maze works against the archviles in the way that you can easily strafe out of their burning attack. but more than one and you're fucked. also if you have no place to hide. among the more creative and balanced (but still a bit brutal) levels in Plutonia, but putting keys in the maze is downright sadistic. i can't look past that, even if i did get lucky and run into a key before i needed it
also i'm not ashamed about it, im full on save scumming this map. maybe on a second playthrough i'll do it legit but keys are too much. |
Pikazilla
05.30.25 | The music in Hunted drives me up the wall ahaha |
tectactoe
05.30.25 | Coolest part is seeing all the archies at the start of the map lol |
s0nicx
05.30.25 | Plutonia is the map pack that if you dont know what you're getting into, you're not gonna have a good time. Once you actually figure out the maps though, honestly some of the best fun the official maps had to offer.
And even for as wonky as some of Plutonia's levels could be, it doesnt have a Habitat on it at least... |
someguest
05.30.25 | Playing through Eternal again and the Marauder still sucks. Other than that it's an incredible game
|
brickhed
05.30.25 | "Once you actually figure out the maps though, honestly some of the best fun the official maps had to offer"
yeah, exactly. plutonia really gives me "what doom 2 should have been" vibes at times with how it balances brutal traps and enemy placement with item pickups. most of the maps are short and sweet, but make up for that with enemy placement. Caughtyard is the best example of this. sure, its brutal, but at the same time you gotta be fine with being real fast and reloading a ton at this point. plus the level makes up the placement by putting down heals on the elevator platforms. |
tectactoe
05.30.25 | 'Playing through Eternal again and the Marauder still sucks. Other than that it's an incredible game'
Marauder is sort of annoying but honestly not that bad, especially if there aren't any other demons in the room. Once you get the appropriate distance down, it's just super shotty → arbalast, repeat. Arch-Viles are WAY worse imo, because if you don't find and kill them right away, the room becomes flooded with buffed enemies. |
ConcubinaryCode
06.01.25 | I finally got to play some of TDA. I like that they experimented with the gun loadouts although some of the alternatives (plasma,skullcrusher) feel kinda redundant. Shield is actually so fun to use as a weapon but I honestly forget it can block stuff too sometimes. The actual art design is cool and map layouts are solid but the open world segments can feel like a slog imo. |
someguest
06.01.25 | Man the Ancient Gods is something else. Playing through part 1 for the first time and it's a big leap up in difficulty from the main game. I'm enjoying it though. |
tectactoe
06.02.25 | 'Shield is actually so fun to use as a weapon but I honestly forget it can block stuff too sometimes.'
Dude, this. 100%. Been playing (and loving, for the most part) TDA, currently on mission 10 or 11. I still forget that I can use my shield to simply BLOCK, and not just either 1. attack or 2. parry. I'll be sitting there like an idiot getting mowed down by an arachnotron's chaingun until I'm half-dead and think "oh yeah, I have a fucking SHIELD maybe I should use it." |
brickhed
06.04.25 | almost done with plutonia
just finished map 27, Anti-Christ
its mostly just a shooting gallery where you're the target. chaingunners everywhere, revenants and hell knights for more sniping, and a spider mastermind to guard the exit. hardest part is the first 30 seconds or so as a brutal trap will easily kill you without a BFG and plenty of ammo for it. overall is pretty fast paced. kind of feels like another "the chasm but better" level with its easy to fall off platforms and teleporters. surprisingly enjoyable as it rewards fast players with health and ammo, enough to reasonably finish the level.
also it has a chaingunner + archvile sniper that you can't kill but there's only one.
helps that the devs put in the perfect music track for it to make this more tolerable, was expecting it to be a total slog but its pretty well designed. |
tectactoe
06.04.25 | You're making some good headway. You gonna do TNT Evilution after this? |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | TNT Evilution
Starts off strong but then falls off hard quickly |
s0nicx
06.04.25 | @brickhed actually you can. It just requires a ton of luck and rockets. (To put it simply, explosions/blast damage has infinite height and using that you can kill the archville that resurrects the Chaingunner) |
brickhed
06.04.25 | yeah I have a ton of rockets but im not doing rocket jumping stuff man
ive heard pretty bad things about TNT, mainly that its just super boring. I don't mean one person I say its a universal opinion. I'll still beat it once im done with plutonia but I have low expectations. as long as im not lost im fine. |
tectactoe
06.04.25 | SIGIL is sweet though. Don't skip SIGIL. |
Demon of the Fall
06.04.25 | what’s the ranking for DOOM/DOOM 2 and bonus packs / add-ons then?
I wanted to do them in order but wouldn’t rule out starting DOOM 2 etc. without finishing 1 if the mood takes, idk 🤷🏻 |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | Demon, there's a nigh infinite number of add-ons.
Play Valiant, Ancient Aliens, and the two Eviternitys. |
Demon of the Fall
06.04.25 | nah, I’m only talking about the official ones. I’m getting an impression of where they stand from the previous comments, I’m just lazy |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | Original Sigil is great, second one sucks imo. Gameplay is just cramped cyberdemon showdowns with damaging floors everywhere for no apparent reason other than to annoy you.
Plutonia will always be my beloved. |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | I am yet to try Legacy of Rust though, that one has new guns and enemies. |
tectactoe
06.04.25 | I don't mind SIGIL 2 at all but the first one is definitely better, possibly my favorite wad pack of them all.
Imo:
No rest for the living
DOOM II
SIGIL
DOOM, Episode 2
Plutonia
DOOM, Episode 1
SIGIL II
DOOM, Episode 4
DOOM II Master levels
TNT Evilution
Doom, Episode 3 |
tectactoe
06.04.25 | Based solely on how enjoyable I think the maps are. I've also not played Legacy of Rust. |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | doom episode 4 that low is criminal :p |
s0nicx
06.04.25 | Nah I'm with him on Episode 4. That *sucked*. |
Demon of the Fall
06.04.25 | Interesting that E3 is last, I’m still ‘taking my time’ in those maps 😆 |
ConcubinaryCode
06.04.25 | Kinda related- has anyone played Prodeus and have thoughts on it? It actually looks cool and is on sale now
|
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | I have and it's awesome. The level designer is a nice bloke from my home country who got poached by the Prodeus team after they witnessed his Doom modding wizardry. |
ConcubinaryCode
06.04.25 | Hell yeah, sold. |
Demon of the Fall
06.04.25 | oh really Pika?
tbh I was gonna say the level design gets a lil repetitive after a while but it’s a nice homage to the style. It’s definitely fun for a while |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | I think your mileage varies with your playstyle and how good you are at finding secrets, if we are talking Prodeus. Guns blazing is the way to go. Also, the weapon upgrades are fabulous and once you get your hands on those you'll be wiping out hordes of enemies extremely quickly.
I remember them announcing a DLC a couple years ago, but they've been radio silent ever since. Hopefully, we'll get some news soon.
Also, I cannot recommend Cultic and Turbo Overkill enough to those who are looking to get into more boomer shooters. |
brickhed
06.04.25 | only thing i know about TO is that the fanbase is full of autistic kids and the gameplay is extremely stimulating, which explains the fanbase
if you want a good new blood game thats not so overly stimulating try out dusk. i've been trying to get people to play it, its great. also andrew hulshult did the soundtrack if you know him, great job |
Pikazilla
06.04.25 | brickhed I think you're mixing up TO with Ultrakill...
TO doesn't have that big of a fanbase, actually. |
brickhed
06.05.25 | yeah i am whoops |
brickhed
06.05.25 | anyway i beat Plutonia, finally
took 10 and a half hours, overall.
The game is very punishing, as it should. It was created to be a challenge for those who beat Doom 2 on nightmare and found it too easy. Enemy and item placement are carefully balanced out.
The main chunk of the game is the first 15 levels, which are by far the hardest. The game pushes out every dirty trick up it's sleeve against you right out of the gate, and doesn't relent. Trust me, there have been many times playing through this that i've thought about enabling god mode, but i just needed to take a break or think out a plan. In fact, playing Plutonia has made me develop strategies against pretty much every OG Doom enemy.
Notable levels.
Level 7: Caughtyard. My second favorite Plutonia level. The first true test of skill the game throws at you. You're being shot at in all sides in a claustrophobic castle. Its brutal and unforgiving. You better develop those saving skills, or else you're not getting through the first 10 minutes of this level. It's just layers of high teir enemys all around you. Speed and strafing are a demand.
Map 10: Onslaught. Really lives up to its name, with revenants, mancubi, and arachnitrons very early in the level. Its a fast paced level which any slowdown is punished with a plasma blast or revenant rocket. The second true test of skill in Plutonia.
Map 11: Hunted. One of my favorite maps, creative wise. A maze with 15 archviles, only armed with a super shotgun and full ammo. Using those ears of yours will be mighty useful here, as finding the archviles before they find you is a bit easier. It boils down to finding keys, killing archviles, and plenty of strafing. In fact, this level really helped me develop my archvile strategy in close combat like this: treat with shotgun. if problem persists, more shotgun. strafe or die.
|
brickhed
06.05.25 | Map 27: Anti-Christ. Another banger of a level. It's the third serious test of skill after Onslaught. It's bigger, badder, and even more ball busting right out of the gate. You see that supercharge as soon as you load in? Nope, it's a deadly trap. Get used to saving and reloading, this level pulls no punches. Should be little problem at this point of the game, though.
Map 29: Odessey of Noises. My favorite Plutonia map, hands down. A single city level thats very fine tuned. It's certainly easier than the other maps, but there are enough traps to keep you on your toes. Tips? Explore as much as you can. Don't deal with the Cyberdemon until you've killed most of the outside demons. Get the keys, kill the demons, kill the Cyberdemon, then GTFO. Enemy's just keep spawning in, with the total count 170. The best penultimate level I've seen yet.
Overall: People love to dismiss Plutonia as "blatantly unfair" when it well and truly seems like a skill issue. All you have to do is just be good at FPS games. If you're slow, Plutonia will beat you to a pulp.
Lore wise, its really cool. Has to do with the particle accelerators and that they were supposed to close the Hell portals, until the demons just opened 7 and invaded Earth again. You're there to destroy the accelerators and close the Hell portals. Meanwhile, Hell is throwing everything it can at you as a last ditch effort, which is an awesome way to simply explain the difficulty. I haven't loved the lore as much as the game in a while. Just interesting enough to be cool and not overbearing.
Ehh i give it a good 4.5/5. Levels are consistent, though my least favorite is The Death Domain. The first 5 minutes are absolute bullshit, i don't care what anyone says.
Now time for TNT.
(had to break it up into 2 comments since sput did not like the length) |
tectactoe
06.05.25 | 'doom episode 4 that low is criminal :p'
It's less that I think E4 is "bad" and more than I just think the wads above it are even better. Really the only wad that I would say I actively dislike overall is DOOM E3. TNT has its bug-a-boos but generally I have no major issues with the level design even if a lot of the choices are meant specifically to annoy the player. At least many of the levels leave a significant impression (even if that impression isn't totally favorable). E3 just feels like someone with little to no map-making experience cobbling stuff together, and it's the least memorable set of maps I think out of the entire DOOM series. |
Pikazilla
06.05.25 | I get what you mean. I hate e3m7 with every fibre of my being. Practically zero combat, dumbass progression with those teleporters smackdab in the middle of damaging floor pools. Ugh. And then if you're playing continuous, prepare to fight the second most underwhelming boss in the franchise. One-two bfg shots and bai, level over in seconds. |
tectactoe
06.05.25 | Yes. Terrible level. Though I might hate the one that's shaped like a hand even more. And the first level of the episode E3M1 is probably the lamest opening level across every DOOM wad. Boring, not memorable at all, the little clipping secret is stupid, blah. Even though E4M1 is notoriously fucking difficult for an opening level, I at least have fun playing it, and respect it for how challenging it is (and more so for how challenging it can make the next level if you waste to much ammo). But E3M1 is just snooze-ville. |
Demon of the Fall
06.05.25 | E3 is definitely sucking hard compared to E2 so far. It's why I'm currently making virtually no progress (because I haven't been playing it!)
M1 was dull, yep. The hand level was definitely bullshit. And I agree with the notion that much of it is unmemorable (literally trying to recall ANYTHING else rn, lol) |
tectactoe
06.05.25 | As an aside, THE DARK AGES might be my favorite of the modern DOOM games. I'm still only around the half-way mark (Mission 11 or 12) but I am loving every second of it. I can actually understand why the consensus seems to be that ETERNAL is "better", or at least more unique in terms of how it combines its mechanics into the classic boomer shooter framework. But THE DARK AGES I think is just more "my speed" when it comes to these sorts of games. Make no mistake, I loved ETERNAL and have never played any other FPS quite like it; nearly shit myself multiple times, often had to wipe my hands from sweat due to how intense some of the segments were, and the feeling of slow-mo grappling and weapon swapping mid-air to take down a horde of demons is unrivaled and rewarding. But THE DARK AGES's more tempered/metered approach to combat is, overall, more enjoyable for me personally. It's still very fast paced (it is not exactly the "slow/stand and shoot" game that many people thought it would be based on early demos) but it's far more tactical and defensive imo, and that part is really cool to me. Rather than simply trying to make sure you're moving and dashing at all times, you're more concerned with keeping your head on a swivel, understanding your surroundings and using enemy attacks to your advantage while trying to block, dodge, and parry between your offensive openings.
I like the exploration better, too. This is probably somehow related to my favoritism for DOOM II's "open" levels, but I also prefer TDA's expansive and flat battle spaces and largely non-linear style versus the more cramped, vertical, and platform-based levels of ETERNAL.
The automatic and more forgiving automap is also a godsend. No more having to skim through YouTube videos to find some impossibly hidden secret that you'd never have stumbled upon otherwise.
Only letdown in TDA so far are the mech sections, mostly because they're very easy, repetitive, and largely on-the-rails. Luckily they are relatively short, though. TBH I don't even mind the dragon flying all that much. |
brickhed
06.06.25 | not liking TNT for its gross abuse of fucking monster closets
with plutonia it was moreso cold, calculated cruelty. how to make a challenge without it feeling annoying. TNT want's to do the same thing, but doesn't have the finesse to pull it off.
if you thought plutonia was bad with chaingunners, TNT is like that but constantly puts hitscanners behind monster closets with imps. its super poor enemy placement so that half of your deaths and hits feel super cheap. more thought was put into the maps and music than the actual gameplay, which is kind of sad.
30 maps of bullshit monster closets and drip feeding great levels is starting to feel like a waste of time. i'm only on map 7. |
Demon of the Fall
06.07.25 | decided that even tho E3M4 sucks it was (accidentally) the best map to achieve the 20 fist kills and berserk related trophies, if one cares about such things
so many pinkies to punch!
M5 has been a breeze so far although again, it’s a fist-a-thon outside of one baron. I have a crazy amount of plasma ammo now. Probably should save it 🤔 |
Demon of the Fall
06.08.25 | I’m such a noob, proper dumbfounded by where tf I’m supposed to go on M6 lol
seems to be some sort of envirosuit / invulnerability puzzle, where you have to use them wisely (fine), but I just can’t for the life of me figure out how to progress any further. Running around in circles
I also swear it’s possible to get shut into the ‘berserk room’ without any legitimate way out but that’s probably me also being a dumbass |
brickhed
06.09.25 | very tempted to call it quits on TNT, the seemingly endless monster closet on Storage Facility really makes me wonder why im even bothering to play this |
tectactoe
06.09.25 | Demon - where exactly are you stuck? I'm having a tough time remembering exactly where the "tricky" parts of that level are, nothing is directly sticking out to me but that's likely because I've tried to repress as much of E3 from my memory as possible. |
Demon of the Fall
06.09.25 | That’s the thing it’s not really a specific point because the level feels quite open for a DOOM map. I have a blue key. Cleared out the former soldiers / baron from the central building near where you start and been to various lava-drenched outskirts + a soldier / imp filled berserk room.
It’s very arena-like, circulating around the central building, with a few smaller structures / platforms in the middle of the lava around the edges.
It’s hard to explain. I might just look it up if I can’t find my way next time. |
Demon of the Fall
06.09.25 | Update: I accidentally just found out the secret exit is accessed via the berserk room apparently (a room I couldn’t get out of before!)
so that’s an alternative plan!
any thoughts on the secret E3 level? 🤔 |
tectactoe
06.09.25 | Yeah, lamest secret level in classic DOOM, too. (E3 keeps on delivering...) It's a revamp of the first map but it adds a Cyberdemon fight where the previous exit was, then you have to backtrack to the start and there's a few new areas that open up, one of them has a key that eventually leads to the "real" exit. I'm surely missing some details because it's been a while now but that's the gist. AKA be READY when you reach the first "Exit" teleporter because a Cyberdemon will be on the horizon. |
brickhed
06.12.25 | been doing a quick run through doom 1 just to see how good i've gotten since plutonia. just played tower of mystery and why is it in the game. its 5 minutes of the worst og doom combat and lets you go through a secret. just why. |
Demon of the Fall
06.15.25 | E3:M7 is a really crappy game of the floor is lava, I mean we didn’t have envirosuits in my living room as a kid, but pretty sure it was more fun! |
tectactoe
06.19.25 | Rough ranking of the Dark Ages enemies:
Hell Cultist
Tentacle
Zombie
Maykr Drone
Lost Soul
Soldier
Solider - plasma shield
Soldier - shield
Imp
Imp Stalker
Soldier - chaingunner
Nightmare Imp Stalker
Arachnotron - ballista
Hell Knight
Battle Knight
Mancubus
Acolyte
Pinky Rider
Revenant
Arachnotron - minigun
Cacodemon
Cosmic Baron
Whiplash
Cyberdemon
Komodo
Agaddon Hunter
Vagary |
Pikazilla
06.19.25 | the cyberdemons are so easy in dark ages though
if you stay close to them and keep parrying their attacks, they are absolutely helpless
the vagina champion is def a nuisance however |
Demon of the Fall
06.19.25 | damn, why are Cacos so high? (having not played the game, just seems weird that's all) |
Pikazilla
06.19.25 | the cacos are not true cacos in the dark ages
you will see when you play the game
when I first encountered one, I didn't even realise it was a caco |
Demon of the Fall
06.19.25 | not trve cacos! omg why? Demon sad now! |
tectactoe
06.19.25 | Agree Cybers aren't too bad, especially if you have the Chainshot upgrade that fully charges it after a successful parry. Parry, parry → charged chainshot → repeat. Still annoying though when you have to fight one in the presence of a bunch of other enemies which is often the case. And that stupid hell spike attack they do from afar (along with chaingun) can be pretty damaging if you don't close the gap quick enough.
I suppose Whiplashes are more 'annoying' overall so maybe they'd swap but I can't in good conscience put Cosmic Barons over Cyberdemons. They are just far less threatening overall imo, even without an ez-mode loop.
Also -I'm an idiot and misnomered the Agaddon Hunters. I thought they were something else, whoops. Nope, they are the "new" Marauders and they are a pain in the ass (I've bumped them up accordingly).
Vagaries are the worst.
The Cacos in TDA have a weird Lovecraftian design, look like a brain with tentacles. They aren't terribly difficult, just shoot from afar. But they are persistent (i.e., they will keep trying to close the gap) and if you get close to them, their bites do a very sizeable chunk of damage. They also have more HP than it feels like they should have. Some annoying non-parryable projectiles, too, thereby making them a proper annoyance.
Honestly it mostly comes down to the fact that TDA enemies in a vacuum are far easier to deal with than in Eternal, none of them are too terribly threatening except for the ultra-heaviest. TDA relies more on large waves of enemies across large, wide-open battlefields and having to navigate that spatial awareness while fighting them off. It feels far more like a "DOOM game" to me, tbh. I did like Eternal quite a bit, but I also found myself running away a lot in that game. Doesn't feel right when you're supposed to be this unstoppable force of destruction and you're constantly having to jump, dash, and swing backwards to safety. |
brickhed
06.20.25 | played and beated Thy Flesh Consumed while sput was down
I hold Plutonia as a gold standard for difficult doom expansions (Sigil 1 may very well become that new standard) and it feels like a much shorter but less well designed version. The first two levels are absolutely brutal, but i'm thankful for the downtime that the later levels provide. overall, its decent.
speaking of Sigil, i've started playing it. download sigil they say, it'll be fun. load it up on Ultra Violence and this is the most punishing doom gameplay i've come across. It reminds me of a more diabolical Plutonia, even more impressive with Doom 1's limited enemy line up. Sigil throws Barrons of Hell like Plutonia throws Archviles. Sergeants, much like in Thy Flesh Consumed, will become a high priority target. This is mainly due to starving the player of resources just enough for it to be playable. A good chunk of the game a heavy hitting sergeant sniper will kill easily. I've heard that the easier levels play like a normal doom episode, which is really cool. goes without saying that the level design is stellar, even on a artistic standpoint. not finished yet but honestly the difficulty is a bit much for me. i'll still finish it on ultra violence, it just turns me off that there's little breathing room or downtime. just constant john romaro level design. |
tectactoe
06.20.25 | Yes, yes, let the SIGIL flow through you 😈 |
Demon of the Fall
06.20.25 | something tells me I'll definitely abandon Sigil and probably Plutonia on UV lol
...in 2027, when I finally get to them |
tectactoe
06.20.25 | No shame in playing on a lower difficulty. I had to turn ETERNAL down from UV to Hurt Me Plenty after, like, the fourth or fifth level. Games are supposed to be enjoyable, no sense forcing yourself to play in such a way that only ends up being frustrating. |
Pikazilla
06.20.25 | uv pistol starts only 😤 |
tectactoe
06.20.25 | Truly cursed |
Pikazilla
06.20.25 | I have the mouse + keyboard advantage over console players |
brickhed
06.22.25 | beated sigil and overall it was pretty cool. of course I went to the last level on 4% health but thankfully john was kind enough to have a berserk and a supercharge before the final bosses. there was a thrill being at 30% health most of the time, constantly looking out for sergeants and imps, with the occasional cyberdemon to dodge throughout the level. its not entirely frustrating on ultra violence, just a real challenge. not ashamed to say that i did save scum with some of the bullshit the game throws at times. but i did it. |
tectactoe
06.23.25 | Based. Still my favorite Doom 1 WAD! |
Demon of the Fall
06.24.25 | I read Sigil is next after og DOOM chronologically, in a timeline sense (not by release date). Interesting 🤔 |
brickhed
06.24.25 | yeah lore wise sigil is before thy flesh consumed, so that's an interesting addition
I do like how it sets up thy flesh consumed once you've beaten it |
Demon of the Fall
06.26.25 | Ah right. E4M1 is gonna be parked for a while. Delaying doing it on a ‘technicality’ that it wasn’t part of the og DOOM and released after DOOM II. Created as an expansion / challenge by Romero post-DOOM II. I don’t need to tackle it yet (phew 😮💨 got out of that one… for now!)
P.S. pretty sure this was already mentioned but the spider mastermind really is a sucky ‘final’ boss / map! What an underwhelming conclusion
nearly went with E4 (above) or Sigil but thinking plain old classic DOOM II is up next! |
tectactoe
06.26.25 | DOOM II is the goat. Embrace the occasionally convoluted levels in the Space Station; the open, unconventional, and nonlinear levels in The City; and chaotic, trap-filled levels in Hell. It's a beautiful game. The new enemies are iconic, the super shotgun is the greatest weapon in any FPS game ever, and the core gameplay is as marvelous as it was in the original DOOM. |
brickhed
06.26.25 | the fact that in one of the later levels the exit is hidden behind a secret door with a random texture you have to shoot reminds me doom 2 just has a lot of bullshit in it. yes, im still very bitter over that. still a good game, but man that 10-month rush shows. |
brickhed
06.26.25 | "any thoughts on the secret E3 level?"
oh yeah the revamped version of warrens
eh, its decent. its a quick way to finish the semi slog that mt erebus is, so i will give it that. but the last bit of it is a lot when you're pistol starting (i'm almost done pistol starting all of doom 1 with only autosaves, by the way). its an okay secret level, nowhere near as bad as fortress of mystery.
speaking of fortress of mystery, its like carmak said "okay sandy, we need you to make a secret level with 4 skull keys in it". sure, sandy got the job done, but it feels like the most half assed level in og doom. |
Demon of the Fall
06.27.25 | Oh, I have good memories of DOOM II tect and I'm definitely anticipating some major nostalgia buzz (for the first few levels at least!) and I can't wait to get my hands on the super shotty
Having said that I imagine many of the tougher maps will be less familiar to me, because I wasn't very good (can't remember if you could level select or look up the 'codes' on the PS1 DOOMs but it's as though I recall parts of levels, but cannot recall most in their entirety). In fact my E1-E3 completion is likely the first time I've ever finished it 'properly' all the way through on any sort of reasonable difficulty |
rellik009
06.27.25 | Greatest game(s) of all time. [2]
The DOOM modding community is equally one of the greatest
anyone who played brutal doom? |
brickhed
06.30.25 | one thing i do like about doom 2 is the nonlinear level design. sure it leads to the same exit but for most of the level there's a couple different paths.
and with my second playthrough i am developing a true hatred for pain elementals. every single new encounter, for each second it goes on, really makes my blood boil. whoever though of the design is a sadistic fuck. can't even use rockets since it just spams lost souls directly at me, and three more when it dies. as of recent i havent been able to have BFG ammo at hand so it spams 30 before i've been able to kill them, which is super messy and aggravating.
also i'll probably get to brutal doom when i do my third playthrough of doom 1, since i'm pretty sure its for doom 1 only. |
MTObsidian
07.01.25 | Actually, BrutalDoom isn't just limited to Doom 1--it works as a plug-in that you can use for really any wad you want! You just load it alongside your wad into whatever engine you're using. For example, I just have all the files in the same folder, ctrl+click to select both the BrutalDoom pack and whatever wad I'm playing, and then drag it to GZDoom to run them both. Viola! A few wads won't play nice with it and crash, and I'm sure there's some jank here and there, but it's pretty reliable overall.
I'm not as much of a purist so I use BrutalDoom for basically any wad I play, whether I've played it before or not. It can lead to some exceedingly difficult encounters, though, because of the reworked damage scaling (a lot of things do a LOT more damage than usual; revenants can go f*** themselves). |
brickhed
08.27.25 | finished TNT and its a pretty nice wad. i don't find it quite as sadistic as Plutonia but it still has its healthy amount of bullshit. but it mainly boils down to being faster than the hitscanner, which is doable. honestly doing another rehash of the icon of sin (which is a boss i don't like anyway), and it being a more irritating version of ploutonia's kind of pisses me off, but whatever. at least plutonia doesn't make you waste ammo and health first and make the boss area very, very small. feels like its a cheap way to make a hard boss.
trying out legacy of rust and holy shit it is the most sadistic one i've played in terms of official expansions. making me single shotgun revenants with worse lost souls, shotgunners, imps, and little space all at once? that's frustrating. the second level is kind of crazy, even when at i'm over 100 health im still stressed from imp snipers or something else. its a different experience |
Emim
08.27.25 | How's the new one? I'm debating starting it after I finish Space Marine II |
brickhed
08.28.25 | yeah it reminds me (legacy of rust) of Sigil 1 but harder. it carefully starves you of resources, but unlike john romaro they give you just enough if you manage ammo right. but john dident have super huge maps and beta enemies that are infuriating at times (mostly talking about ghouls). sometimes they put a couple archviles in an crowded, awkward space. speaking of, this wad seems to love really uncomfortable battle spaces, with it usually crowded by boxes and letting a mix of high and low teir enemies loose.
i like the sense of difficulty, but every 30 seconds to 5 minutes seems to be a skill check, which i'm not the biggest fan of. i really quit map 3 halfway through and started my nosave pistolstart run of doom 1 to decompress. first impressions legacy of rust is no joke. still pissed that they held the double barrel out on me until map 3 while shoving revenants in my face. |
brickhed
08.28.25 | oh yeah and level 3 dosent let you backtrack at all because fuck you |
brickhed
09.04.25 | yeah the coiled city is a sadistic level but the rest are cool. the last level for episode 1 is pretty cool other than the ammo starvation. hey, at least there's berserk packs.
speaking of berserk packs, i've been finding out how busted they are. x5 your RNG roll for the punch is sick, makes punching out revenants and low tier enemies (other than shotgunners) a breeze. when i see a berserk pack in a level i know its going to be okay. makes the chainsaw obsolete if you pick one up.
so far legacy of rust is pretty good but does get a little too sadistic and unfun at times. |
Demon of the Fall
10.21.25 | STILL endevouring to eventually get through some more of the OGs but stuck on *checks notes* Map:10 of Doom II (lol yes). I'm not all that great at these maps where you are (presumably) required to take full advantage of infighting. The monster count on this level is ridiculous and the ammo is relatively sparse. |
RVAHC13
10.21.25 | @Demon of the Fall When you get to DOOM 64 that’s when you’ll get really confused/frustrated |
botb
10.21.25 | Mannnn I wish they’d do a more survival horror style doom like doom 3 again with modern graphics. It’d be sooooo good |
RVAHC13
10.21.25 | 3 has aged surprisingly well. Replayed it on Game Pass last year and it was just as fun as it was on the original Xbox |
botb
10.21.25 | It’s the most unique take on doom I think (other than the mobile turn based rpgs). Love the arcade feel of most of them but I think 3 may be my favorite |
brickhed
10.21.25 | demon of the fall
if you get stuck, if you don't want to grind the map then get better at what you know. I wanted to single segment plutonia but got stuck at the 5th map's end trap, so i'm signal segmenting everything else first. it's a lot about knowing the map and enemy placement. |
RVAHC13
10.21.25 | Playing Dark Souls reminded me that there’s no shame in looking at game guides lol |
Demon of the Fall
10.22.25 | DOOM 3 rules. DOOM 64 is confusing for sure, from memory
I'm not entirely sure what this "single segmenting" thing is but I could hazard a guess that it's something to do with perfecting each 'section' rather than moving on
I decided to start another save (TNT... some nostalgia here) and will return to the DOOM II base levels when I inevitably get stuck, again... lol |
brickhed
10.22.25 | it's just doing the level in one sitting, no saves except at the start. it's a good way to learn a level but can get frustrating at times. |